Kissing My Heart Goodbye
by AshleyTrecartin
Summary: Alternative Universe: The One Piece gang is in the wonderful world of high school where Nami's an innocent good girl and Zoro's apart of a gang and labled the school's bad boy along with the rest of his freinds. What kind of drama can possibly happen?
1. Meeting the Gang

Chapter One: Meet the Gang

It was a normal day for Nami, another day getting up, dressing and waiting for her 'father' to take her to school. _Father,_ she thought bitterly. _Since when has he ever acted like a father?_ She was waiting in the kitchen, nibbling around a mikan while she waited. There was a huge screen TV plastered onto one wall and she was watching the news. The anchorman looked rattled as he stepped over rubble from a crime scene.

_"It appears that late last night a gang attacked this part of the city. It's not clear why as it looks like nothing has been stolen, but the amount of the property damage is estimated to total around 300,000,000 belli. If anyone has any knowledge about these criminals Captain Smoker is requesting that you call the station immediately, if you wish for your name not to be used, he'd be happy to have any anonymous help."_

The TV turned black. "Honestly Nami, why do you watch that crap? It's only going to upset you," Nami glanced over her shoulder at her adoptive father. Arlong was a powerful man; he controlled most of the city and ran a gang that almost no one seemed to know about. If the cops knew about him, then he paid them off to keep his name out of the news. Her mother had been killed in one of his raids when she was ten, and being the kind hearted man he was, he took her in. He'd been amazed with her talents at drawing and the way she seemed to know her way around any place, even if she'd never been there. When he'd brought her back to his home in Grand Line, he'd enrolled her at Gold Roger's Private School for the Gifted, making sure that she took all advance classes that would only further her art and navigational skills. She didn't argue, she bit her tongue and suffered in silence dreaming of the day when graduation would come and she could get as far away from this man as possible.

"I don't see what the big deal is," she said shrugging her shoulders. "It's just a bunch of kids who are causing trouble," she grabbed her bag off the counter and slipped her shoes on.

He chuckled as poured his coffee and twisted on the lid to his to-go mug. "How is it that you can be so smart, but so naive at the same time?" he asked turning to look at her.

Nami shrugged. "Can we go? I told Miss Robin that I would be there to help her get ready for class."

Arlong grabbed his keys from the counter and followed her out to his car. "What are you helping her with?" he asked as they slid inside. The only thing he ever did that could be considered fatherly was take an interest in her schooling; only the best for his Nami.

"She's going over ancient ruins today and she's got a few pieces from an Aztec temple that she borrowed from the museum, she needs help setting them up and cleaning them up a little bit. They've been in storage," Nami replied almost automatically. Arlong nodded as he pulled out of the driveway. Nami stared out the window as he drove, looking at all of the kids laughing and walking together. She'd asked once before why she wasn't allowed to walk to school with Vivi, one of her best friends, Arlong told her that he didn't trust the men on the streets to not cause trouble. She knew that wasn't the real reason but she didn't push the issue.

He pulled up to the school and parked the car. Before Nami got out he reached into the glove box and pulled a small wrapped present from the confines. "Happy birthday," he told her with a smile that was meant to butter her up. Nami forced a smile and unwrapped the small box and pulled out a sliver bracelet with her name inscribed on it in beautiful calligraphy. The forced smile became a genuine one as she pulled the chain from the box and held it up to the light. The silver glittered as the sun warmed its surface. Arlong reached over and pulled it from her fingers and fastened it around her wrist. "I thought you should have some real jewelry since you're eighteen," he said with a smile.

"It's beautiful, I love it," she said leaning over and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm glad, I won't be able to pick you up after school, I have a meeting at three, do you think Vivi could keep you company until I can come and get you?" he asked.

Nami knew that he really didn't have a meeting that normal fathers went to, he had a gang related meeting. Nonetheless she nodded her head. "If I know Professor Burukku he'll have a big project for us to do over the week, so we can work on that at her house." Arlong nodded slowly. He didn't let her go to Vivi's often, only when it couldn't be avoided.

Nami slid from the car and grabbed her bag. She knew Arlong would be watching her until Cabaji came up to look after her, and right on time, Cabaji slid up and took her hand in his. She shivered; his skin was always so cold. "Good morning, Nami," he whispered softly in her ear.

"Cabaji, did you know, there are these wonderful inventions, called clothes?" Nami asked pulling her hand away from his. "Why are you always so cold?"

Cabaji shrugged as they walked into the school. Cabaji was in the gang Arlong ran, he was part of Buggy's division and often recruited and ran small time operations out of the school. Arlong had ordered him to watch Nami while at school; he'd even reprogrammed the school's computer so they had all the same classes as each other. "Why did you have to be here so early?" he asked as they walked down to Nami's locker.

"Because, Professor Robin asked me to come in and help her," she told him opening up her locker and grabbing her books. "I told you Friday before Arlong picked me up that you'd have to be here earlier. Don't blame me because Arlong's over protective take that up with your boss," she snapped her locker shut and headed down the hall.

"Oh trust me Nami; I don't have a problem with it." He smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him. "In fact, you and me, alone in the school could be fun."

Nami glared as a shiver ran up her spine. "You know that if you touched me Arlong would skin you alive." She opened the door to Robin's classroom thankful that Cabaji wouldn't be able to try anything while the teacher was around. Robin was at her desk, pulling out glass stands for the tablets she was going to be showing in class.

"Nami thanks so much again for coming," she smiled and then looked at Cabaji. "Why on earth are you here so early?" she asked.

Cabaji shrugged. "I thought I would be able to get some extra sleep here, the family is too loud at home," he lied smoothly as he took his usual seat in the back of the room.

Nami helped Robin set up the tablets and get them cleaned and ready for class while Cabaji slept in the back of the room. By the time they were done the classroom was already filling with student and Nami didn't have much down time before the bell rang for class. She moved to her seat and put her bag down. Vivi glanced at her from her seat and smiled.

"What's got you so happy?" Nami asked looking at her best friend.

"Oh, nothing," Vivi smiled and she had that tone in her voice that made Nami wary. It was the sound Vivi's voice had when she was planning something.

"Whatever you're planning forget about it," Nami pulled out her notebook covered with flags in all different colors, marking the important things Nami thought were necessary to warrant a flag; almost every page. "I need to come over for a little bit after school, Arlong has a meeting."

"Alright, and I wasn't planning anything," Vivi said pulling a small bag filled with multi colored tissue paper and placed it in front of Nami. "Happy birthday," she smiled.

Nami delved into the bag and pulled out an Indian style scarf with a multitude of colors and intricate designs. "I love it!" Nami leaned over and hugged Vivi as the bell signaling the beginning of class. Nami quickly pulled out a pen so she could take notes on Professor Robin's lecture. Robin was in the middle of talking about the second tablet she and Nami had set up when the door opened. Everyone glanced and Saw Roronoa Zoro walked in. _Late, as usual,_ Nami thought. Zoro was one of the school's bad boys. Apart from Cabaji there was another small gang in school that was classified as 'bad boys', and the girls simply adored them, because no matter what, every girl loved a bad boy. _Well if that's the case I must be defective,_ Nami sighed as Zoro slid into the only empty seat behind her. She was probably the only girl in school who didn't fawn and drool over Zoro and his friends like a love sick girl. She honestly couldn't stand guys like him; they were all like Arlong in the end, only looking out for number one.

He tapped her shoulder and leaned forward, "Got some paper?" he whispered in her ear. Nami sighed and ripped a few pieces out of her notebook and handed them back over her shoulder to him. He thanked her and fell back into his seat. Vivi glanced at her with one of those smiles. Nami gave her a look to drop it before she even got started; even though she knew as soon as class was over she'd bring it up.

"Nami?"

Nami shook her head and looked up at Professor Robin. "Yes?" she asked, blushing slightly because she'd been caught in her own head.

"Can you come up here and give a demonstration of this last tablet please?" Robin asked smiling.

"Of course Miss," Nami stood and walked to the front of the room and stood beside the last tablet. "This is the Double-Headed Serpent; it's a fifteenth century wall hanging of compound stone. It was used as a ceremonial chest ornament that may have been worn by a pries. In Mesoamerica culture, serpents held a very religious symbolism; the shedding of their skin made them a symbol for rebirth and renewal." She said like she was reading it right out of a book. Nami was smart; all of the studying Arlong had made her do when she was younger had made sure of that.

"Thank you Nami," Robin said taking over the class again.

Nami slid into her seat, her blush only deepening. She hated talking in front of the class. Zoro leaned forward again, this time he was so close Nami could feel his leather jacket on the back of her shoulder. "Cute, I bet you know a lot of things, huh Nami?" he asked.

She pulled her foot forward and kicked backwards. She's learned that Zoro liked to stretch his legs out and they always came within kicking distance. She never missed the opportunity to kick him when he made a smart-ass remark like that. He groaned behind her and leaned back in his seat. Nami smirked and started taking notes again. _Like I said; defective._

By lunch Nami was ready to strangle Vivi, since Archeology class Vivi had been insisting that Zoro only tested her because he liked her. Nami kept telling her that she was crazy and that nothing could make Zoro like her. They were from completely different worlds. The stereotypical was that Nami was an innocent rich girl and Zoro was a bad boy with no respect for authority. But she knew it went deeper than the stereotypical. She didn't know how deep it went for Zoro, but for her…it was a lot deeper. Sure she was rich, but that was only because her 'father' was the head of a big crime boss organization and ran half of the city out of the comfort of his chair in front of a fireplace behind the walls of a house that had only the best security system money could buy. As far as innocent went, she as only innocent as far as relationships went. She'd never had a boyfriend before, mainly because everyone saw the way Cabaji hung all over her and figured that she belonged to him; anyone who tried to hit on her, or even talk to her ended up getting a 'talk' from Cabaji.

She sighed as she and Nami sat down at their usual table and Cabaji slid in beside her. "So Cabaji, it looks like someone's trying to steal your girlfriend away," Vivi teased.

Cabaji looked at Nami with a slow smile that only sent a shiver down her spine. "Oh really, fell like sharing who it is Nami?" he asked.

"As if," she sighed and grabbed her water, opening it and taking a drink. "Vivi's just hallucinating."

"Oh come off it Nami, have you seen the way he looks at you?" she asked. "He totally wants you!"

Nami glared and got up, grabbing her water and her bag. "No he doesn't, and even if he did, there would be no way I would ever say yes!" she stormed out of the cafeteria and even Cabaji who never left her side knew to stay behind to let her calm down. She walked outside to the school's courtyard and leaned against a tree that was in full bloom with sakura blossoms. There was a soft breeze that blew the petals that had fallen to the ground around the grass, carrying them away. She felt envious of the little flowers; they were free to go wherever the wind would carry them. She was stuck here, probably for the rest of her life. She hoped that once she was done with high school she'd be able to leave, but she knew deep, deep down that Arlong would never let her go. She'd probably end up marrying Cabaji. That particular thought sent a shiver down her spine as her stomach flipped.

"You know, it's not very nice to kick people," Nami looked up and saw Zoro walking towards her with Franky and Sanji, two of his best friends. They were wearing matching leather jackets, all of his friends wore them; it separated them from the rest of the school's population.

"Maybe if you didn't piss people off they wouldn't kick you," she shot back, glaring at him.

He chuckled and stopped in front of her crossing his arms over his broad chest. Franky mimicked him, but Sanji only kept a hand in his pocket, the other holding the cigarette he was smoking. He smiled and dropped the burning thing on the ground, putting it out with his foot before moving closer to her. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I must say, getting to see you every day somehow makes the school day bearable," he said in a softly seductive voice.

"Give it a rest, will ya?" Zoro called out. He grabbed Sanji and pulled him back.

"What was that Marimo?" Sanji asked glaring at Zoro.

"You heard me, curly brow!" Zoro shot back.

"Alright you two knock it off," Franky grabbed them and pulled them apart before they could get into a big fight. Nami looked at them like they were crazy. They were supposed to be best friends and yet they fought like they hated each other.

"Did you need something, or did you just come over here to get me even angrier?" she asked, crossing her arms under her breasts.

Zoro glanced at her and smirked. "I wanted to know what you're doing this weekend," he said causally. She looked at him, at a complete loss for words. Vivi couldn't be right, could she? There was _no_ way. It just wasn't plausible. "Cat got your tongue?" he chuckled when she still didn't answer him. "I'll take that as an, 'You can pick me up at eight'?"

"You most certainly can't!" Nami fumed. "I'm busy this weekend, sorry," she pushed past him and started to walk away, hearing his laugh behind her and Sanji yelling at him. She stalked into her class and sat down at her spot, pulling out her sketch pad and a pencil. She really needed to find some way to challenge her anger better. This was getting out of control.

Makino walked into the room and smiled at her as she started setting up for class. "Good afternoon Miss Nami,"

"Good afternoon, Professor Makino," she answered, blindly sketching in her pad of paper.

"Are you going to participate in the school's play this year?" she asked, idly making small talk.

Nami thought about it for a minute. She'd been in every play the school performed since she first arrived at Gold Roger's Private School for the Gifted, and after a few years had been granted the lead, every year after that she'd been the lead in every major school production. She hadn't given much thought to the play this year; she'd been too preoccupied with everything else going on lately. "What play is it this year?" she asked.

"I believe they're putting on Grease this year," Makino called from over on the other side of the room.

Nami thought about it, it could be fun. It was the epitome of bad boy meets good girl, and it was one of her favorite musicals to watch when she was stuck at home on a Saturday night. It could be fun playing Sandy and the clothes would be fun to help with. Making up her mind Nami signed up for the auditions after class; where Cabaji found her. "Where did you run off to?" he whispered in her ear.

She shrugged him off and glared. "I went outside to get some fresh air, shouldn't you be speeding off somewhere on your bike right about now?" Nami asked walking down to her locker.

"Not today," Cabaji said following her. "Arlong wants me to take you home until he gets back from his meeting," he told her, leaning against the wall of lockers beside hers.

"What? He said I could go to Vivi's," she complained.

Cabaji shrugged lazily, "The boss texted me during lunch, I already told Vivi," he sighed and grabbed her bag from her hands as she wrapped the scarf Vivi gave her around her neck. "So you're going home and getting started on your homework." He told her, escorting her out of the building.

Zoro and his whole group of friends were sitting on the steps leading from the school and he smirked at her when she walked by, her arm in Cabaji's hand. "Hey Nami, where you going in such a hurry?" he called out to her. "Seems like your boyfriend wants to get you home fast," he smirked and chuckled.

She turned and glared at him. "One he's not my boyfriend, and two, like I would ever let him touch me like that." She snapped. She ripped her arm out of Cabaji's hand and got on the back of his motorcycle as he grabbed his helmets from the back. He always carried two because they never knew when Arlong was going to have him taking her someplace. He handed one to her and Nami pulled it on without a word. Once he had the bike started and was on it, Nami wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes. She really hated riding with him, he was careless and she knew that one of these days he was going to crash and she just knew that she was going to be on the back of the death trap when he did. He sped off and Nami held her breath as the bike jerked forward.

Once she was safe and sound back on her own two feet she let him into the house and went to the kitchen to look for something to eat, since she'd skipped lunch she was starving and god only knew when Arlong would be home with dinner. Cabaji came in and leaned on the counter, she could feel his eyes on her back and tried to ignore the feeling it gave her. Cabaji was like a snake, always waiting for the right moment to strike and she never felt safe with him, the only reason she knew that he wouldn't try anything was because Arlong would kill him if he did. She pulled out some left over Kung POW Chicken from the fridge and moved to the microwave putting it inside to warm up.

"So what's the play this year?" he asked, looking through a magazine he'd brought in with him.

"Grease," she answered while making coffee. "Sandy would be a fun role to play," she sighed and grabbed her food from the microwave and picked at it while she waited for the coffee.

"Hmm, Grease huh?"

Nami didn't like that tone that Cabaji had, but she didn't mention anything to him about it. She didn't need to in order to know what he was planning. He was going to audition for the play and try to land the role of Danny; with her luck, he'd get it too. After she poured her coffee and grabbed her food she went into the living room and pulled her iPod out of her bag along with her homework. She plugged in her headphones and got started on her homework while Cabaji watched TV. With any luck Arlong's meeting wouldn't run late and he'd come home and tell Cabaji to get lost. The sooner the creep was out of her house the better she would feel.

Unfortunately Arlong didn't get home till nine that night, and Cabaji had been more than a pain in the ass. Complaining when she took the remote away from him and turned the channel, when she'd made him fork over money for dinner, and when she'd made him wait outside with the doors locked so she could take a shower. Even a threat from Arlong wouldn't keep the bastard from peeping at her.

"Hey baby," he said kissing the top of her head and smiling. She looked up at him with a glare. "Nami, don't look at me like that, the meeting took longer than I expected," he tried to explain.

"A whole five hours longer?" she asked getting up. She shook her head when he opened his mouth to say something. "Just make him leave already, he's annoying." She pointed over at Cabaji who was reclining on the loveseat watching wrestling on TV

Arlong sighed and nodded his head. "Cabaji you can go," he took off his suit jacket and laid it over the back of the couch. "Thanks for doing this for me," he added.

Cabaji nodded and stood up, turning off the TV and dropping the remote on the table. "No problem boss," he grabbed his bag and his keys. "See you tomorrow Nami," he gave her a bone chilling smile and left.

"So how was school?" Arlong asked as he looked through the food she'd ordered.

Nami sighed and collapsed against the couch again, lying down on the sued material. "It was another boring day, I signed up for the school play though," she added a little more quietly. "Hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, you know I love watching you perform." He smiled and sat down beside her on the couch, pulling her feet up onto his lap. "What's it going to be this year?"

"Grease, I'm hoping to get Sandy," she mumbled into one of the matching pillows that came with the couch. "Then again, I don't know if I really want her, it depends on who gets Danny," she added.

Arlong nodded, "I'll probably have Buggy pick you up from rehearsals, if he doesn't creep you out too much,"

Meaning if he didn't creep her out anymore than Cabaji did. "No, Buggy's fine," she mumbled turning around so her head wasn't buried against the pillow anymore; she was having trouble breathing through all that material. "Auditions are tomorrow, and rehearsals start next week," Arlong nodded and looked at the blank TV thoughtfully. "Something wrong?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. She was thinking the meeting hadn't gone the way he'd hoped; which probably meant there was blood to be spilled.

"Yeah, just thinking," he murmured.

Nami sighed, he didn't usually talk about his 'work' and she didn't ask, because honestly she didn't want to know. "Alright, well I think I'm going to go to bed," she sighed getting up.

"Good night sweetie," he said smiling.

"Night," she kissed his head and headed up stairs to her bedroom. She walked inside, turned on the light, and looked around. It was a huge room shaped strangely for her taste. When you first walked into the room you could see two French doors leading to the balcony that wrapped halfway around the left side of the house with black curtains that could cover the windows and on either side were two floor to ceiling bookcases filled with books, and some of them spilled over onto the floor and other various places in the room. The wall that came off on the right side of the wall with the French doors held her dresser before the wall indented, her bed was pushed into the spot where it dipped, two small bedside tables on either side of it, one holding a lamp and the other holding her alarm clock. Above the bed was another shelf that held pictures, more books, and had two cabinets filled with various items. After the wall came back out from the indent there was another small desk that held her laptop and a printer. From the left side of the wall holding the French doors, half of the wall was her closet. It was a walk in style that held so many clothes and shoes she was certain that if she didn't do any laundry for two months she would still have clean clothes to wear and after the closet there was a small half hexagon stage with three mirrors where she could model her outfits before deciding on one. The remaining part of the wall was covered with a hot pink couch that lined the wall and slid up the side of the stage. The walls alternated between hot pink and black with white carpet and a ceiling and trim along the walls. The texture of the bedding and the chairs in the room was zebra print along with the pillows on her bed that were also hot pink and black. The desks were either black or white and on one of the black walls there was a painted white tree on the black wall her bed was by that she had hand painted.

She sighed and dropped her bag beside her bed and changed into a simple black silk nightgown that floated down to her shins and had decorative lace around the hems. She pulled back the blankets and climbed into bed, setting her alarm back an hour since she didn't have to be to school early tomorrow and closed her eyes, planning on going to sleep. Unfortunately an unwanted image appeared in her mind. Roronoa Zoro. Damn him, why wasn't it enough that he had to bother her at school, now he had to plague her dreams? What did she do to deserve that? She knew the answer to that. She wasn't interested in him, that's why he picked on her so much. She was the only girl he could do it to without thinking that it meant something more. Should he pick on any other girl, they would think that he was interested in her and she'd follow him everywhere. So she was forced to be the brunt of all his jokes and teasing. Finally falling asleep she made a secret promise to herself to make sure she paid him back.


	2. Not You!

Chapter Two; Not you

"Nami, where's my briefcase?" Arlong called from downstairs.

She sighed and turned from looking in her mirrors to glance at her door. "In the den where you left it!" she called. She heard him call up a thank you before she went back to looking at her outfit. She'd been feeling in a bit of a bitchy mood when she woken up that morning. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that her dreams were plagued with Zoro. She growled and decided this outfit was exactly what she needed. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs. Arlong was having trouble putting his tie on and growled in frustration when she walked into the kitchen. She smiled and walked over to him, pushing his hands away and taking the tie in her own hands. "You know you really should learn how to do this," she teased as she put the knot in the tie.

"Now why would I want to do that when you're so much better, and faster?" he asked as she finished the knot and smoothed out his tie.

"Maybe because someday I'm not going to be around when you need a tie done." She moved to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "So Buggy's picking me up today?" she asked.

"Yeah, he'll be there around four, do you think you'll be done by then?" Arlong grabbed his briefcase off the counter and poured his coffee.

"We should be, though it all depends on how many people show up, when I signed up yesterday there weren't that many, but you never know," she shrugged and grabbed a mikan from the counter and peeled it. "If it looks like I'm going to run a little late I'll text him," she added. Arlong nodded and grabbed his things. Nami followed him out to the car, eating her mikan on the way to school.

After he dropped her off she found Vivi in the cafeteria with her boyfriend. She smiled and headed to her locker instead of going over there, she didn't want to be the third wheel, though Vivi would never see it that way. She headed down to her locker with a small bounce in her step. She was half way to her locker and still no sign of Zoro or Cabaji; she had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. She opened up her locker and pulled hour her Archeology book and put her bag in her locker. Hopefully her good luck would last until she was done with auditions.

XXX

Zoro walked into class, late as usual and his eyes went to the only reason he came to school. Nami, she was sitting in her seat looking like a bad ass today. He was a little shocked when he saw her and had to do a double take. She didn't look like herself, her usual good girl self. She was wearing tight black skinny jeans that hugged her waist, riding low enough that he could almost see her panty line, and her dark red halter showed off those wonderful breasts of hers but her long creamy arms he loved to look at were cased in a black leather biker jacket similar to the one he always wore. He noticed one of her legs poking out from under the desk and bit his lip at the calf high biker boots she was wearing. Hell even her makeup was dark. She looked like something straight out of his fantasy.

"Zoro, are you just going to stand there all day, or will you take your seat?"

Zoro glanced over at Robin and shrugged moving back to his seat behind Nami. He smirked, unable to resist and leaned forward. "You look good today," he whispered in her ear noticing the way her body stiffened. He loved picking on her, teasing her until he could make that fiery temper come out of her. She was the only girl in school who couldn't stand him, the only one who didn't kind him attractive in any way, at least that's what she left herself to believe. The real truth was that she found him so irresistible that she hated him for it, Zoro knew she felt that way from the looks he would catch her giving him, the small sublet looks she shot in his direction when she thought he wasn't looking. The truth was he caught her every time. He'd never let her know that though…or at least not until it was time.

He leaned back in his chair and laid his head down too tired to even try to stay awake. Sleeping, next to teasing Nami, was his favorite thing to do, he was always tired, and he didn't know why and he really didn't care. The only thing was that he couldn't fall asleep. Nami was wearing some kind of perfume or something and it was driving him crazy. He didn't know what it was but it was acting like an aphrodisiac and he had to fight to not reach out and play with her hair, anything to get that smell on him somehow. He kept looking at the clock willing it to move faster and after what felt like an eternity the bell finally rang. He'd planned on jumping up and running for cover but Nami got up the same time he did and he bumped into her, nearly knocking her over. She would have landed on that luscious ass if he hadn't reached out and grabbed her.

She looked up at him, those dark brown eyes wide from the mini heart tack he'd accidently given her. He couldn't help but smirk. "Sorry," he said, not really meaning it, with as close as she was to him right now, he could smell that perfume and he finally managed to figure out what it was. Mikans and strawberries with the slightest vanilla scent to it. It was intoxicating. All he wanted to do was bury his head in her neck and get lost in it.

"Watch where you're going next time," she growled and moved out of his arms, grabbing her bag.

He chuckled; she was trying to resist him again. "So, I heard that you signed up for the school's play," he smirked, watching her as she tried to calm the fluster. She stiffened only briefly at the mention of the play. "Can't wait to see that one, Sandy fits you well, obedient, innocent, adorable," he smirked.

"You know what Zoro, go to hell." She grabbed her stuff and stormed out of the room. _Don't you know Nami, as long as I don't have you, I am in hell._ he grabbed his bag off the floor and stalked out of the room.

By the end of the day Zoro was in a slightly good mood for a change. He'd left Nami alone after class, deciding that with what he had in store he could offer her a small reprieve. She was in the auditorium, waiting for her name to be called for her audition. He smirked when her name was called and watched from the back of the auditorium when she moved to the middle of the stage, waiting for her partner's name to be called. The director, Mr. 3 stood up and looked around the room after reading her partner's name. "Roronoa Zoro?"

Zoro smirked and stood up from his seat, noticing the way Nami's body went stiff at the sound of his name. Her eyes locked on his as he walked down the middle row of seats towards her. "Yeah, I'm here," he called out to Mr. 3 as he hopped up on the stage. "Hey," he nodded his head to Nami as he stood beside her.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed as Mr. 3 started the music.

"Auditioning," he replied with a smirk, and right one cue, started singing. No one knew it but Zoro actually had a good voice, he sang his part and looked at Nami, waiting for her to start. Surprisingly she did, and she was better than he'd heard. They put on a little show for everyone who was there and when they were done, were given a standing ovation.

Mr. 3 stood up with tears in his eyes. "That was beautiful, ladies and gentleman, Danny and Sandy,"

Zoro smirked as Mr. 3 tossed them their scripts. "Thanks," he looked at Nami, "so you wanna run lines together?"

She looked pissed. "God you're such an ass!" She stormed off the stage and pulled out her phone. He didn't know who she was calling but he followed her. "Dad? Hey, I know you don't like it when I bother you at work, but I've got a small favor to ask." Zoro could hear the voice on the other line but not enough to identify the voice. "Yeah, I got the part, but the idiot who got Danny is going to need a lot more time to get the lines down then he's going to get for rehearsals…can he come over?" Zoro smirked when she glanced at him. "No, he can drive us…alright see you when you get home…I love you too." She hung up her cell and glared at him. "Let's go," she snatched her bag off the floor and headed for the door. Zoro smirked and followed, tossing his bag over his shoulder.

Once they reached the parking lot she seemed to calm down a little bit. "What's wrong? Done putting on a show for all of your adoring fans?" he teased.

"No, I don't know where your car is," she snapped.

Zoro chuckled. "I don't drive a car," he pointed over to his motorcycle sitting in the back of the parking lot. Nami flinched when she saw it. He'd seen the way she was when Cabaji took her home on the rare days her dad didn't come pick her up, and she apparently didn't like riding them too much. He smirked, "Don't worry, I'm a perfectly capable driver," he whispered in her ear as he walked by her. She groaned and followed him towards his bike; he pushed his bag into the store-away compartment and waited for Nami to put hers in there. She looked at him, to the compartment, and back to him. "What?"

"Do you expect me to cram my bag inside that little thing?" she pulled her bag off her shoulder and held it up. Zoro sighed, it was huge, twice the size of the compartment.

"Shit Nami, what the hell do you have in there?" he asked closing the compartment.

"My books," she pouted when he took the bag from her and climbed onto his bike.

Zoro strapped the bag to the bike in front of him. "How many classes are you taking?" he asked as she climbed on behind him.

"All advance classes, which I still can't figure out how you got into Advance Archeology," she muttered the last part as he started up the bike but he still caught it. He chose to ignore that till later.

"Hold on, okay?" she nodded and put her hands on his waist, holding onto his belt loops. He shrugged and slowly pulled out unlike Cabaji who jerked the bike. No wonder that dumb ass was stuck without a ride so much. He treated the shock system so roughly he had to keep putting the damn thing in the shop for repairs. Nami, who was used to the original shock that Cabaji often did, she gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist when he started to increase the speed of the bike. He was sure that not having a helmet also made her nervous but Zoro had been driving motorcycles since before he was even legal to drive them and he'd never had an accident. The truth was, she was safer with him then he was in the back seat of a police car. When he pulled up to a stop light he looked over his shoulder at her. "I'm going to need an address here princess,"

She glared at the pet name he'd given her a few years back. "1618 Kokoyashi Drive," she told him as the light turned green again. Zoro nodded and sped off for the part of the city that was all big fenced-in houses and fancy cars. It didn't surprise him in the least that Nami would live in a place like that. He found the house easy enough and pulled into the driveway, shutting off the bike. While Nami climbed off he unhooked her bag and handed it off to her before grabbing his and allowing her to lead him inside. He walked in through the door and let out a low whistle. The place was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside and it was done up to the nine. Plush carpet he could feel through his shoes, walls colored with rich cream colors and held one of a kind works of art that all looked authentic, fancy furniture, and everything was spotless. "The den is on your left, do you want something to drink?" Nami asked.

"Water's fine," he mumbled walking through the doorway to the left of him walking into the den. There was a huge screen TV plastered on the wall, a fancy leather couch and a coffee table that matched all the other wood furniture in the house. Nami walked in and dropped her bag on the couch tossing him a water bottle. Zoro caught it with ease and tossed his bad down beside hers. "Nice place," he complemented.

"Thanks," Nami clipped. She didn't seem like she was in the mood for small talk so Zoro didn't push her. She grabbed her script out of her bag and dug around in his, tossing his copy to him. Zoro caught it and smirked.

"Do you always throw things at your guests?" he asked, slightly amused.

"Only when they're assholes," she opened the script and turned a few pages to the front page. "We mine as well start at page one," Zoro shrugged and opened up to the first page. Zoro tried to concentrate on the words he was reading and tried to put some feeling into it but all he could really pay attention to was Nami. He'd found out her singing was good, but when he watched her run through the lines it was like he was actually watching a performance. She was beyond good; he figured that if she really wanted it, she could have a career on Broadway. "Are you even paying attention?" she asked.

"What? Oh, sorry," he mumbled shaking his head. They'd been at this for three hours now and he really didn't think he was getting any better at it.

"Why did you even audition if you're not going to take this seriously?" she asked, tossing her script to the couch. He smirked and she shook her head before he could answer. "Forget it, I don't even want to know," she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Do you want to run through the songs?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Whatever works for me."

"Alright, follow me," she led him through the den to a sunroom; there was a huge bowl chair and a baby grand piano. She sat down at the piano and pulled the lid up. She reached into the small box beside the piano and pulled out a book of music. Flipping to the first page she set her fingers over the keys. "Get over here; the words are on the music." Zoro sat down beside her on the bench and looked at the music. It was the first song they'd be sinning. The opening song in the movie, he guessed that for the play they'd be singing it all themselves. She played the introduction and started singing. Zoro jumped in with her, following the music so he kept in tune. It wasn't as difficult as some of the pieces he'd sung before, but it was defiantly challenging especially since he was trying to match his voice to Nami's. They finally found a harmony that worked by the time they got to the second to last song in the play. They're big number together. He smirked thinking about how much fun he was going to have when they got to perform that. Hell even practicing that was going to be fun.

A few hours later they were sitting on the couch watching something on TV, Nami had handed over the remote to Zoro and let him choose a channel since she really didn't care for TV so she had no idea what it was. She'd ordered them pizza and the box was lying in front of them two pieces left, and a two liter of Pepsi was more than half empty. "Damn Nami, for a girl, you sure can put away food, how the hell do you keep that figure?" he asked smirking as she reached for another piece.

"I work out on weekends and before school, so bite me," she snapped sitting back against the couch. Nami glanced at him and saw that he was contemplating actually leaning over and biting her but he looked like he changed his mind and went back to watching TV. It looked like a sports channel but the clips changed too much and there was too much sport lingo for Nami to pick up on exactly what was supposed to be going on.

"So do you live here alone, or do you actually have some parents?" he asked glancing over at her.

"My dad works weird hours," she shrugged, "sometimes he'll be home in time to pick me up from school, other times he doesn't get home until ten or later." She sighed and took a drink of Pepsi. "It all depends on how busy he is. Half the time he brings his work home with him."

"What does he do?"

Nami hesitated the fraction of a second. "He's in banking," technically it wasn't a lie; Arlong was in the banking business, he just preferred that he handle his own money. He'd told her he doesn't trust the government. With his reputation, why would he? She sighed and leaned back against the couch and faintly heard the tires in the drive way. "Speak of the devil," she mumbled. Zoro gave her a look and she shrugged, "he's home."

"Ah,"

Nami waited for Arlong to come in; no doubt he'd grill Zoro on school, family, and blah, blah, blah. He did it every time she brought a guy home, hence another reason she still didn't have a boyfriend. Everyone met Arlong or heard stories and was too scared to get close to her. Although, with Zoro that wouldn't completely be a bad thing, hell it might even make him drop out of the play. She smiled happily at that little though and relaxed a little.

"Nami?" Arlong called, she glanced over at Zoro who seemed to go stiff at the sound of his voice.

She smiled. "Den!" Arlong walked in and looked at her, smiling and it slowly faded as he looked at Zoro. Nami looked between them it looked like they recognized each other and were having some kind of conversation with their eyes. "Dad?" she asked.

Arlong seemed to snap out of it as he looked at her. "So, you two are playing the lead huh?" he asked, sitting in the chair on the end of the coffee table, next to Zoro. Nami nodded and shut the TV off. This was it, the big game of twenty questions he would play with Zoro and hopefully he'd never have to see him again. Arlong didn't look at Zoro though; instead he turned and looked at her. "Nami, be a dear and go get two beers," Nami sighed and got up, going to the kitchen.

Zoro watched her leave and the leveled a glare on Arlong. "So, you're Nami's father, no offence but I thought you could only produce ugly kids."

Arlong smirked. "Nami's my adopted daughter,"

"Is that because no woman would willingly go to bed with you?" Zoro asked. He knew he was walking on thin ice. When Nami had brought him home to her place he never in his life would have guessed that her father was Arlong. His gang and the one Zoro was in had a small rivalry going on, and at the moment, he was on the enemy's turf. He wouldn't be surprised if 'beers' was code for something, and Nami was actually off to fetch one of his guns or a knife she could plunge into his chest.

Arlong chuckled and kept his voice low. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing spending time with Nami, but I'm going to warn you right now, if you try to get any closer than this little play requires, I'll kill you." He leveled his eyes on him, giving him a glare that made a shiver run up his spine. "Rehearsals and class is the only time I want you to see Nami, anything else, you're dead."

"Dad, can I have a martini?" Nami called from the kitchen.

"That's fine," Arlong called back.

"How much does she know?" Zoro asked.

Arlong sat back in his chair. "She knows almost everything, what about you, does she know that you're little gang of school friends really are a gang outside of the classroom?" he asked.

Zoro doubted it; if she did there was no way she would have invited him over to her house. His whole outlook on Nami changed. For all he knew she was a part of his gang too. He knew Cabaji was, but he didn't even stop to think that it could be related to Arlong in anyway. He was so stupid for missing the obvious; the black car that dropped her off every morning with the tinted windows, the expensive clothes, the house. Hell he was an idiot for not seeing it earlier. "If you haven't told her she doesn't," he finally answered.

Arlong nodded and Nami came back into the room, holding two beers in one hand and her martini in the other. "Here," she handed one to Arlong and passed the other off to him. "You're going to need to get more, those were the last two," she added sitting down beside Zoro. He slowly opened his, making sure that the lid was on tight enough to ensure that she hadn't opened it and put something inside. "Is something wrong?" Nami asked, noticing the glare that Arlong and Zoro were giving each other.

"Of course not dear," Arlong smiled. "How was school?" he asked.

Zoro rolled his eyes. He wasn't used to seeing this side of the man he considered an enemy and was surprised he even had a semi caring side.

"Boring as always," Nami answered. Arlong nodded his head and an awkward silence passed between them.

Zoro decided it was time to get out and get back to a comfortable place. The house he shared with Luffy and the others where he would have their backup if he needed it. "Nami, I'm going to go, I'll see you in class tomorrow?" he stood up and grabbed his bag off the couch, never letting Arlong leaving his line of sight.

"Sure, I'll walk you out," she stood up and finished off her martini, following him to the door. "She opened it for him and followed him out to his bike. Zoro could see Arlong watching them from the window and just to piss that arrogant prick off; Zoro pulled Nami into him and kissed her. When he let her go, she looked at him with shock. "Zoro…"

"See you tomorrow baby," he fired up his bike and took off at a faster speed then he was comfortable with. But damn it he needed to get out of there and get back on his own turf. Well if things weren't interesting before, they sure as hell were now.

So Nami gets the part she wanted, but how the hell did Zoro manage to get Danny, and why the hell would he audition in the first place? Now Zoro's not only going to bug her during school, but almost every waking hour for the next few months. And how does he feel now that he knows Nami's 'father' is Arlong; the hated rival of the Straw Hat gang? Things can only get worse from here.

In the next chapter you'll get to see the relationship between Nami and Zoro develop.

I wasn't really sure about this chapter too much. I think it's a little short, but I don't want to add anything, because I'm saving it for the next chapter, so I guess we'll have to deal with a short chapter. So, Zoro finds out that Arlong is Nami's adoptive father, and that doesn't really set well with him because Luffy's gang and Arlong's gang have a rivalry that's been going on for a few years now, but Nami doesn't know a thing about it. She doesn't even know that Zoro's in a gang, all she really knows is that he's a bad boy at school. Arlong doesn't really talk about his gang life much around Nami, because he figures the less she knows the better it is. But...how long is that going to last?

Bwahahahaha...yes there is some serious drama coming up in later chapters because yes, I love to be mean to main characters and cause chaos. It's kind of my thing.

Comment and let me know how you think the story's going so far, also let me know who you want Vivi's boyfriend to be.


	3. Fraternizing With the Enemy

Chapter Three: Fraternizing with the Enemy

Zoro stared up at his ceiling, unable to think about anything other than the woman who'd been plaguing his mind for a week. Nami was all he could think about since he'd left her house; some days he hated her, others he felt like he needed to feel her lips against his again. His current mood; he hated her. When he'd come home a week ago, and everyone asked him where he'd been he'd told them.

_"Oi, Zoro, where have you been?" Luffy asked from the couch when Zoro walked inside. Everyone was in the living room, crowded around the television, watching some reality show that was playing._

He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair and hung his jacket up beside the door. "I auditioned for the _school__ play," he mumbled._

Everyone in the room slowly looked over at him. As much as he loved them and considered them his best friends, none of them knew that he could act, let alone sing. "Zoro, stop kidding, where were you really?" Usopp asked, not buying his story for a second.

"I told you," Zoro pulled his script out of his bag and tossed it onto his lap. Everyone leaned over and read the cover before erupting in a roar of laughter. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up, idiots." He headed for the kitchen, planning on getting a beer and going to his room to sleep.

"Okay, so you auditioned, that still doesn't explain where you've been all night," Sanji mentioned when he walked back through the living room on the way to his room.

Zoro glared at the floor and gripped the beer he was holding in his fist. "I was with Nami, we were running through lines," he mumbled.

"What? You were with Nami? Oi, Marimo, I hope you're not planning on doing anything with her!" Sanji yelled.

"It doesn't matter," Zoro didn't realize his temper was through _the roof__ until the beer bottle cracked under his hand, shattering to the floor. "She's _Arlong's_ adopted daughter." He growled through gritted teeth._

"What?" Everyone asked.

Zoro nodded. "No way," he glared over at Luffy who shrank back.

"I was just in that fucking house, she doesn't even know that Arlong's little gang and us are in a war right now. She doesn't even know we're a gang outside of school." He sighed and wiped the beer off on his pants. "I don't think she even knows about Arlong."

Sanji looked at Luffy and suddenly realized something. "Luffy…she could be our key to bringing down Arlong, and as much as I hate to use girls; she would be a huge advantage to our side."

"Or a huge disadvantage'" Zoro snapped. "Just imagine what would happen if Arlong found out she was hanging out with us, if we brought her here, she could lead Arlong right to us while we were asleep. He could kill us all and we wouldn't know a thing until it was too late." He growled and glared at Luffy so he would know that Zoro was serious. "She can't be trusted."

He'd left it at that and disappeared into his room. He hadn't come out since. He was sure the second he actually went back to school Nami was going to be mad at him. They were supposed to be the leads in the show together, and they really couldn't do that if he never showed up. He'd read through the script enough times he knew the whole thing by heart, the only problem was going to be putting feeling into it. He didn't know how he was going to do it. Depending on his mood that night, he was going to have to pretend he was in love with Nami, on the other hand, if he was in a good mood, he was going to have to watch himself when the time came to kiss her on stage; because god only knew what was going to happen to his control when he felt those soft lips pressed against his.

God he was screwed here. He couldn't hide away in his house anymore and he knew that, he had to get back to school, at the very least explain to Nami why he'd been hiding. But that was a whole other can of worms that he didn't want to open up. He could just imagine telling Nami that he was part of a gang that was currently in a gang war with her father. That would go over real well; she'd probably call Arlong on the spot. Or better yet, if Cabaji was hanging around her like he usually was, she'd just tell him to kill him off.

Shit, he knew he couldn't hide out anymore. People could call him a lot of things, but a coward wasn't one of them. He got up and got dressed and looked at himself in the mirror. He'd picked out the best clothes he had, which weren't all that good. A pair of black jeans with a dark red dress shirt, he grabbed his black shit kickers and pulled them on, and walked out of the house, grabbing his leather jacket on his way. Whatever may come to be let it, he needed to talk to Nami. Zoro jumped on his bike and sped off in the direction of the school. On the way he thought that if he was being honest with himself, another reason he was hiding out away from the school was to let the head die down a little. Arlong had threatened him and he wouldn't put it past the man to have Cabaji do a little clean up during a break between classes or during lunch.

Zoro pulled out his cell phone while he was held up at a stop light. School would be just getting out by the time he got there, hopefully he would be able to find Nami before she left, and he prayed to god that Arlong wasn't the one picking her up today.

When he pulled up to the school the bell rang letting everyone out of class. Luffy came running out of the building like his pants were on fire. "Oh, Zoro," he skidded to a stop beside him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I've got to talk to someone, watch my bike for me," Zoro jumped off the bike, leaving it running and ran into the school. If he was lucky enough he'd catch Nami before Vivi or Cabaji were anywhere near her. He ran down the halls pushing his way through everyone, pushing his way to her locker. He finally reached it, but by the time he was able to stop he was so out of breath all he could do was look at her and pant.

"Zoro?" she closed her locker and looked at him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and forced the air into his lungs faster until he could talk without having a panic attack. "I need to talk to you…is there any way you can come over?"

She looked skeptical and slowly put on a mask so he couldn't read her eyes or expression to tell what she was thinking. "I don't know Zoro, since the day you met my dad, you've been avoiding me, and don't tell me you haven't." she sighed and hiked her bag up farther on his shoulder. "You've missed a whole week of school…why?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about," he kept looking around for any sign of Cabaji or Vivi. "It's not safe to talk here, please Nami," he hated begging, but he would stoop to it if it was the only way to make her listen to him.

She sighed. "Fine, hold on," she pulled out her phone and called someone. "Hey Vivi, can you cover for me? I'm going…out." Zoro waited until she looked at him and nodded. He thanked whatever god was looking over him and took her hand and pulled her out of the school. "Calm down, Cabaji's not here today, no one's going to see," she told him. He didn't care he needed to get her out of there now.

"What are you going to tell Arlong?" he asked as they walked down the steps leading from the school.

"That I'm going to the library with Vivi and staying with her tonight, we already cleared it with him last night," she sighed when he stopped by her bike.

"Oi, Zoro what's going on?" Sanji asked, he was standing with Luffy beside his bike. "I thought you said we couldn't trust her," he nodded towards Nami.

"Excuse me?" she crossed her arms and glared at Zoro. "Why the hell wouldn't you be able to trust me?"

Zoro glared, "Not now Nami," he spoke through gritted teeth. "I'll tell you later," he looked around noticing how deserted the parking lot seemed. He knew the students usually cleared out fast, he just wasn't aware that it was this fast.

"Oi, Zoro, what's the big deal?"

Zoro growled and rolled his eyes before looking at Franky. "I thought she was off limits," he pointed to Nami which only succeeded in pissing her off more.

"Look Zoro, I don't know what kind of game you're playing but if you think I'm willingly going to go along with—"

"Oh shut up," Franky reached out his big hand and clapped it around Nami's neck, Zoro knew exactly what he was doing; the only problem was that he wasn't fast enough to stop it. Franky pressed with enough force on Nami's pressure point in her neck and knocked her out mid-sentence. Zoro caught her before she hit the ground and held her against his chest.

"Franky what the hell is your problem?" Sanji yelled, infuriated. "I don't care if she's the enemy, you should never treat a lady with such shitty respect," he scolded.

Zoro rolled his eyes and climbed on his bike pulling Nami closer and balancing her in his lap. "Sanji shut up, the damage is done," he growled and shifted her weight. "Go to the store, we're going to need some girly shit for the shower and stuff…you might wanna pick up some clothes too," he didn't know how long Nami was going to stay with them; hopefully Vivi was a good liar.

"What? She's staying?" Usopp asked. Zoro knew that Usopp wasn't the bravest guy in the gang, but when it came down to it the man pulled his own weight. Zoro could understand his concern about bringing the enemy into the house.

"We really don't have much of a choice now," he mumbled. "Luffy, you okay with this?"

Luffy looked up to the sky, something he did a lot when he was thinking. When he looked back at them he had a huge grin on his face. "Sanji, get lots of food!"

Sanji chuckled, "Yeah, I got it," he headed out to his car and climbed inside, Chopper and Franky following him.

Luffy clapped Zoro on the back and smiled. "Just don't crash okay?"

Zoro nodded, "I never do," he took off, using his arms to hold Nami up while he drove. She was going to kill him when she woke up; there was no doubt about that. He sighed and glanced at her as he sped down the road. She looked so innocent while she was sleeping. It was hard to think of her as a part of some big gang, it just didn't make sense. He was beginning to wonder if there was more to the story then what was actually on the surface. The only way he was going to find out though was to get her back home where he could keep an eye on her and try to get the information out of her. Unfortunately that meant that he was going to have to tell her who he really was and why he needed her to tell him everything she knew about Arlong. She probably wasn't going to like it, and she'd probably refuse to give up anything on her father, but he was worth a shot.

He pulled into the garage back home and turned off the bike before picking Nami up in his arms and carrying her inside. He looked around the living room, contemplating on where he was going to put her. They didn't keep any spare bedrooms, Chopper and Usopp shared a room because they were so limited on space, and he didn't trust anyone in the house enough to leave her alone if he put her on the couch. Which left one place; his room. She would probably kill him when she woke up for putting her in his room, but he'd have to risk it. He sighed and carried her in there and pulled back the sheets on his mattress. He laid her down and pulled off her high heels before covering her up. Hopefully she wouldn't be awake for a while that way he'd have some time to figure out how to go about this while she slept. He'd made up his mind and acted so quickly he hadn't thought anything through. Now he was stuck with the daughter of the enemy in his bedroom of all places. He really was going crazy, there was no other explanation.

He left his room, slowly closing the door behind him and walked into the kitchen. He was hopping they had some aspirin because he knew she was going to need it when she woke up. He found a bottle and grabbed it and a bottle of water from the fridge and set them on the counter until he was ready to go back into that room. He didn't trust himself more than he didn't trust the others in the house. He knew that if he was left alone with her he'd start thinking and that was never a good thing. Sanji or Usopp were the ones who did most of the thinking, himself and Luffy were the ones who acted rashly, without thinking things through. Which was why he was in this mess. He sighed and leaned back against the counter. Shit, he really was an idiot; she didn't like him before, she put up with him because she really had no other choice, now, well…now she'd probably go home, lead Arlong right to them and have them all killed.

What the hell was wrong with his head? He liked one girl and started making decisions that were going to get them all killed. Shit, he was whipped and she didn't even belong to him he realized. She might hate him, and she would probably be the end of him, but he was crazy about her. He realized the real reason he'd wanted to talk to her, was to find out how much she really knew about Arlong, and if she wanted, offer her a way out. It was crazy, he knew that, hell it left crazy back when he auditioned for the play and went straight to insane, population him; but he knew that he had to try. He didn't know when it'd happened but somewhere along the way he went from liking Nami, to full on, hells over head, crushing on her.

Man he was pathetic.

_**Won't you beg me and then tell me how to love you like anybody else would I know you're risking failure (risking failure) go run for cover (go run for cover) you better start to love her so much you're moving on and on**_

Zoro's phone went off. He dug it out of his pocket and put it to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Oi, Marimo, what size is Nami?"

Zoro sighed at Sanji's voice on the other end of the phone. "How the hell am I supposed to know? We haven't exactly slept together or anything for me to have a chance to look, and I may be crazy but I'm not suicidal enough to ask a girl what size clothes she wears."

"Well go look at the tag on the back of her shirt and jeans," Franky yelled through the phone.

Zoro shrugged, thinking it was the best way to find out. He moved to the bedroom, grabbing the aspirin and water on his way listening to Sanji and Franky fight over the phone. He put the water and medicine down beside the bed on the table and slowly rolled Nami over. While Sanji and Franky continued to fight he found out her size. "She's a medium and has a thirty-four inch waist," he told Sanji.

"Hey, how do you know that?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it and just get the damn clothes," Zoro hissed and hung up the phone as he rolled Nami back to her back. He sighed when he heard Usopp and Luffy walk inside; they were so damn loud, laughing about something or other. Zoro decided it really didn't matter; Nami was going to wake up sooner or later, sooner was probably better.

She stiffened and took a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes. She looked around the room and locked onto his gaze, quickly breaking free of the haze she was in she glared at him and sat up in his bed. "Where the hell am I?" she asked, swinging her legs over the bed and standing up, only to fall back onto the mattress.

"Here," he handed her the aspirin and water, "it'll help with the headache, and I'll explain everything so just calm down." She looked at him suspiciously but took two pills and swallowed them, drowning half the bottle of water.

"There, I'm calm," she folded one leg over the other and leaned back on her hands staring down at him. "Now, what's going on?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out where to start when someone knocked on the door. "Zoro?" Usopp and Luffy poked their heads inside. "Oh, you're up," they walked inside and grinned.

"Welcome to the hide out of the Straw Hat Gang," Luffy said with a grin.

"What?" Nami gasped and looked at Zoro, needing an explanation.

"You dimwits, I haven't told her anything yet," he growled.

"Oh, well I'm sure it'll be fine," Luffy smiled, making Zoro think he was crazy for joining a gang with an idiot for the leader. Well at least things were never dull, that was a plus. He got up and sighed.

"Wait, wait, wait," Nami said looking between the three of them. "You're the Straw Hat Gang? I thought it was just an image you guys put on at school; I didn't think you were actually a gang."

"Guys, some privacy please?" Zoro looked at Luffy and Usopp. The marksman nodded and pushed Luffy out of the room despite his protests. Zoro sat beside Nami on the bed and looked at the floor, hoping he'd be able to explain things if he didn't have to look at her. "Yes, we're a real gang, and yes we're the Straw Hat Gang, no doubt you've heard of us."

"Why would I have heard of you?" she asked.

He looked at her, trying to read her expression. She really wasn't kidding. "You're dad is the leader of the biggest and deadliest gangs in the city, are you seriously telling me he never told you about us?" he asked.

She leaned away from him slightly. "How did you know about Arlong?"

Zoro sighed; this was going to be a long ass night. "How much do you know about Arlong, and what he does?" he asked.

"All I know is that he's the leader of the gang and I know who's in it, he doesn't tell me anything else."

He nodded. "Alright, well, a few years ago he came over to our side of the city, the small part he doesn't own, and started talking shit, saying that if we worked for him we could run that part under him. Well Luffy didn't like that and a turf war started. We had to move the location of our base so he wouldn't send guys in during the night to kill us all. We had no idea that he had a daughter, let alone that it would be you of all people." He glanced at her and then looked back at the floor, deciding it was definitely better to not look at her. "For about three years now he's been trying to get rid of us so he could have complete control of the city. When he walked in the other night, when I was at your house, yeah things didn't go over well. When I came back here and told everyone what had happened I'd told them that you were off limits and that we couldn't trust you, because I thought you were working for him too, it only made sense. I didn't want to run the risk of one of us brining you back here and then one night you leading him right to us, but it seems that you know less about him then we do."

Nami huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts. "You know, just because he's my dad doesn't mean that I like him." She snapped. Zoro just looked at her. "The adoption isn't even legal, I don't know anything about my life before he took me in, but when I was sneaking around the house one day I found forms, they were adoption forms that were never filled out. Why he didn't file for adoption I don't know, but he didn't. As far as love goes, I love to hate him. He's probably the worst thing that ever happened to me. Sure he's got a big house, and plenty of money and pretty much gives me anything I want, but he's no father."

Zoro felt a small pang of hope fill his chest. Maybe they could flip the tables on Arlong yet. "So…would you want to get out…if you could?" he asked cautiously.

"Hell yes, he's controlling, and just…ugh. He thinks he can run my whole life. The only reason I'm taking all those advance classes is so I can work for him one day. I don't know what he's planning, but it can't be good." She looked at her lap and folded her hands there. "I hate it with him, the first thing I'm going to do after high school is leaving that place."

"What if you could get out before then?" things were going so much better than Zoro had originally hoped; not only did Nami hate Arlong probably more than they did, but she wanted to get out. He smirked to himself; this could turn to their favor so fast Arlong wouldn't know what hit him.

"I'd do it in a heartbeat," she answered without a pause or a moment of hesitation.

Zoro chuckled. "You know, I thought I was committing suicide bringing you here," he said looking at her.

She smirked and stood up. "Just because I look innocent doesn't mean I am," she crossed her arms and looked down at him. "The suicide mission is going to be getting me out of Arlong's house."

Zoro raised one eyebrow and looked at her. "You're already here, why would we need to get you out?" he asked.

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm a girl Zoro; I need things from my room."

"Sanji's getting you some clothes and shampoo and shower stuff what else do you need?"

"Tampons," she said looking at him.

Zoro wasn't even about to touch that one. He sighed, "Alright we'll take you back there tonight and you can get whatever you need out of there, as long as you make it fast."

"You don't need to tell me twice," she said as someone knocked on his door. She shrugged when he didn't get up and opened up the door. "Oh, Sanji,"

"Ah, hello Miss Nami, I've brought you some clothes and things you might need," he handed her a bag and Zoro noticed the way he looked at her. The same way he looked at every girl. He growled and clenched his fists. Nami was his damn it, he didn't want Sanji looking at her like that. Ever.

"Thank you Sanji," she said smiling. "Oh, do you want to come with me and Zoro tonight?" she asked. Zoro growled low in his throat. She sent him a smirk over her shoulder.

"Where are you two going?" Sanji asked, ignoring Zoro as he leaned in the doorway.

"To my place, we're going to go get my things,"

Sanji cast a look over her shoulder at him. "She's leaving Arlong." He elaborated.

"What?" Sanji asked, a little too loudly, everyone came running to see what the commotion was about.

"What's going on Zoro?" Usopp asked, eyeing Nami, as if she was causing trouble.

"Well, it depends," Zoro stood and looked at Luffy. "You're the boss, so you're going to settle this. Nami wants to leave Arlong, but she won't have a place to go," he smirked and crossed his arms. "Think about it boss, if we had his own daughter on our side, we could bring Arlong down with ease."

"Are you crazy?" Franky asked. "She's the enemy, why the hell would we let her join us?"

"But Zoro has a point," Chopper said pushing his way between Luffy and Usopp. "If she joins us she could tell us all of Arlong's secrets."

Nami shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know any secrets, other than how to open the gate at the front of the house."

"See! She doesn't know any," Franky fought back. "I say we knock her out again and leave her in a gutter somewhere."

"Oi shithead, what did I tell you about treating the ladies better?" Sanji asked glaring at Franky. He stepped between Nami and the big man, as if to protect her.

Zoro ignored all of them and looked at Luffy who still hadn't said anything. He knew Luffy was weighing the options in his mind, even if Luffy acted like a kid half the time; he was smart, and competent. "Alright!" he called loud enough for everyone to hear him. They all stopped and looked at him, waiting to hear the decision he'd made. "She stays," his smile was huge, taking up his whole face.

Zoro chuckled and smirked. This war was going to be over before it was really even started. "Ah, Nami, what would you like for dinner?" Sanji asked, already putting on the charm.

"Whatever you want to make Sanji," she told him as she turned and looked at Zoro. He smiled and nodded. It would take time for Franky to like her, let alone trust her, but by the end of the night she would have Sanji wrapped around her finger; by the end of the week, she'd have Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy. By the time the door closed however, she'd have him wrapped around that slender, smooth finger of hers if she kept looking at him with those eyes. Everyone left one at a time and she slowly closed the door and looked at him. Zoro stood up and walked over to her, watching her with every step, watching her eyes and her body language for anything to tell him to back off. With each step her eyes only called him closer until he had her backed against his door, his hands on either side of her head caging her in, his eyes boring into hers. She only looked up at him with a sexy yet innocent smile on her pretty lips. "Welcome to the gang," his voice was low, almost seductive.

"Thanks," she looked up at him as if she was waiting for him to do something, like kiss her maybe. He wanted to, suffering saints did he want to. Zoro wanted to push her up against that door, rip her clothes off, and fuck her until she was passed out from the pleasure, but something told him this sexy, beautiful, incredible woman standing in the cage of his arms and looking up at him with those eyes that glittered like whisky, was a virgin. He wanted her to trust him, not be afraid of him.

"Do you want to take a shower or something?" he asked.

"Yeah, a shower sounds good, my neck is really sore," she rotated her shoulders and cracked her neck.

"Alright," Zoro grabbed the bags that Sanji had left by the door and opened it, letting Nami out. He led her down the hall and through the living room. Usopp and Chopper were playing video games, yelling at the game, yelling at each other, Franky was reading one of his muscle magazines and curling his biceps, and they could hear Luffy and Sanji fighting in the kitchen as the fragrant scents of whatever Sanji was cooking wafted into the living room. Yep, just another normal night for all of them. Zoro took Nami to the bathroom on the other side of the living room and opened up the door for her while he placed the bags on the sink counter. "There are towels under the sink and anything else you need should be in one of those bags."

"Thanks," she smiled and disappeared into the bathroom. Zoro sighed and went back to his room and tried to figure out what the hell he'd done to warrant such good luck.

XXX

The hot water rolled over her skin soothing the muscles in her neck. Whatever Franky had done to her, it'd left her with a head ache and burning muscles. She'd have to remember to smack him for that later. She tipped her head back and ran her hands over her wet hair, smoothing her hair away from her face. How'd she end up here? She was in Zoro's house, he was part of a gang, who was apparently at war with Arlong, and she'd just agreed to change sides and join Luffy's gang to help bring down the man who'd raised her. Well this sure wasn't how she expected eighteen to be. She thought it'd be a breeze, finishing high school, moving on to college, one day getting married. Now she'd been thrown into the middle of a gang war and she had no idea how or why. Well that wasn't completely true, she knew why to a point. Zoro thought that she knew everything about Arlong and his little gang, but the truth was she really didn't know all that much. He didn't like to tell her about it, she figured it was because it had a lot of bloodshed in the gory details. She sighed and looked at the floor, watching the water as it fell down the drain. She was going to be living with Luffy and the others…and Zoro. How the hell was she going to keep her emotions in check?

She didn't know when it had happened, but one day she walked out of Archeology class, disappointed because Zoro hadn't been there. He'd missed a whole week of school and by the end of it she was ready to hunt him down. She'd fallen for that bad boy charm, the same thing she'd despised about him, the one thing that kept her from being attracted to him. Maybe it wasn't exactly the bad boy charm she fell for; maybe it was the way he'd fearlessly kissed her in front of Arlong. No one had ever been brave enough to do that before, even Cabaji was a pussy when it came to Arlong. Zoro had right out insulted the man when he'd kissed her like that. They both knew Arlong had been watching them, and he'd been so mad when she went back inside she could almost feel it in the air.

She didn't know if this little mission they had planned for tonight was going to work. Sure she knew how to get into the gate after he'd locked it, and she had a key that would work on her French doors leading into her bedroom, but Arlong was a sadistic bastard; there was no telling what they were in for when they went. But if there was a chance that she could get out of there and finally be free of him, then it was worth a shot.

She sighed and turned the water off on the shower and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body before she opened the curtain. She'd locked the door, but she was in a house full of guys, and Sanji seemed to like getting a little too friendly with the ladies for her to not lock the door. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and looked through the bag of clothes Sanji had brought her. She realized just how friendly he liked to get with the ladies. He'd gotten her thongs and bikini cut panties, push up bras with lace to make them sexy, body hugging tee shirts and tank tops, and hip hugging low rise jeans. He'd even been kind enough to get a pair of heels that she knew was going to push her ass up. She sighed and dyed off before pulling out underwear and a pair of light denim jeans with a few rips and tears on them, a white tank top and a black one to put over it. After she was dressed she towel dried her hair and ran a comb through it before opening the door, her bags in one hand, and her dirty clothes in the other.

Nami looked around the room and couldn't help but smile. They looked like a real family. Everyone was in the living room, save Sanji who was making something that smelt mouth watering, and even though they were arguing about something it seemed like they liked it. Quietly, so she didn't draw attention to herself, Nami walked off and headed back to Zoro's room. Since she didn't know where else to put her stuff she put it against the wall beside a bedside table and looked around. For the badass image Zoro put off, his room sure didn't look like it belonged to one. The walls were white and there was little furniture. A bookcase that held more CD's and DVD's then books, a TV and DVD player resting on a small dresser, a twin bed, and a bedside table. The closet door didn't look very big either. There weren't any posters, or any pictures, nothing depicting a style, or personality. She wondered why but thought it best to not ask, it really wasn't her place.

There was a soft knock on the door before Sanji poked his head inside, "Nami, dinner's ready," he said smiling. She followed him into the kitchen and he pulled her chair out for her. She noticed the way his eyes lingered on her body, apparently very pleased with the clothes he'd chosen for her. Nami looked around at all of the food, Sanji was impressive. He'd made a ton of food, she soon realized why. When everyone else came in, Luffy started piling his plate up so full it was overflowing onto the table. Nami shook her head as she filled her plate and watched him.

"I've been thinking," everyone looked over at Franky while they ate. "Maybe we shouldn't take her just yet,"

"Why the hell not?" Zoro asked.

"Think about it, if she goes back there, she can get information on Arlong for us, we would know more about what we're getting ourselves into instead of going in there blind." Franky explained.

Nami could see his point. She knew where Arlong kept all of his gang related paperwork, it wouldn't be hard to get in there to get some stuff; she could do it while he was at work. But apparently Zoro didn't think it was a good idea. "Okay, but what's going to happen if he catches her, or worse finds out that she's really on our side?" he asked. Nami thought about it and suppressed a shiver. She knew exactly what would happen, and it wouldn't be pretty.

"He's got a point Franky," Sanji added sitting beside Nami.

"Guys, does the person jumping sides get a say in this?" she asked drawing their attention to her before Franky could say whatever it was that was on the tip of his tongue; from the way he looked it just might have started a fight. She sighed and looked at them. "I may look innocent, but I'm far from it. I know my way around that house, and I know how to break in to things," she took a drink of her water. "I'll be fine if I go back in there, he thinks I'm at Vivi's and she's used to covering for me, I'll go home tomorrow, and while he's at work, get whatever you need."

"Luffy, this is your call," Sanji looked over at their leader and waited for an answer.

Nami watched him, waiting to see what her fate would be. "I say we let her go back in, it'll work better for us in the end."

It was decided; Nami would go back home tomorrow, and stay another week, at the end of the week, she would take everything she had and leave, Zoro and Sanji would come and break her out, and everything would be over. The only problem was going to be actually getting everything at the end of the week. She wouldn't be able to take anything until Arlong was asleep on the last day. If she took anything before then he would know something was up and that could jeopardize everything. She hoped she had what it took to pull it off.


	4. Under Cover and Opening Night

Chapter Four: Under Cover and Opening Night

Nami didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Every night when she went home to Arlong he'd ask her how school was, and why Cabaji hadn't managed to find her anywhere other than class. She couldn't exactly tell him that during lunch she was sneaking off to plan with Luffy and his gang. She'd told him that she and Zoro were rehearsing their lines and running through the songs they would have to sing because Mr. 2, who took over for Mr.3, had pushed up the date. The fact was, the night before the whole operation to break her out, they had opening night. Everyone thought Mr. 2 was crazy to try and get everything perfect in a week of rehearsals; they'd been staying at the school to ten o'clock or later every night. Opening night was two days away, and only three more days until she'd be free of Arlong all together. Knowing that kept her going, but she didn't know if she was going to be able to last three more days. She was running on almost no sleep every day and she was starting to get jumpy. No one had seemed to notice it yet though, so she figured she was in the clear for right now.

She was in the auditorium waiting for Zoro, they'd gotten passes for their afternoon classes so they could keep practicing and running through the show. They still needed to get their dance down, she didn't know how she felt about Zoro picking her up and throwing her around like they were supposed to. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face and pulled it back in a pony tail as she walked out of the girl's bathroom. She'd changed from her regular clothes into a pair of sweats and a work out bra so she could move and breathe while they ran through the dance. Zoro was standing out on the stage, shrugging out of his jacket when he looked at her. His eyes stared into hers, getting a little wider. Nami could feel the blush leap out on her cheeks. She bit her lip lightly and looked down before looking back up at him. "I figured workout clothes would breathe easier," she murmured.

"Yeah," Zoro nodded and then cleared his throat. Nami walked over to the stereo and turned on the CD with the songs and dance music on it, she skipped to the song they were there to work on and looked at him. He took her in his arms and pulled her against him. She looked up at him and couldn't help but notice the way his chest felt against hers, how good it was. Nami fought back the blush as Zoro picked her up and tossed her around over his head like she weighted nothing, yet his hands were so secure, so sure as he guided her body. She trusted him to not let her fall. She didn't know if that was a stupid idea, or not, but she did know that the more he touched her, the more their bodies touched and pressed against each other as they danced; the more she could feel herself falling for him, and it was driving her crazy.

She shut off the music off a few hours later, panting and sweating. She grabbed her water and drained the whole bottle, watching Zoro from the corner of her eye. He'd opted to take off his shirt about an hour and a half ago and she'd bluntly stared at him; he was finely toned and well built. She had a feeling that there wasn't an ounce of fat on his body anywhere. He looked like he was stronger than Franky—who had been working out the whole time she'd been there—but she never saw him in the gym and there hadn't been any work out equipment in his room. He grabbed an old looking towel from his pack and handed it to her. She thanked him and wiped off her face and neck before handing it back to him. "Zoro?"

"Yeah?" he wiped off his face and neck before dumping the towel back into his bag.

Nami grabbed her own bag off the floor and dug around, completely aware that Zoro was watching her every move. "I want you to have something," she pulled out a silver chain, holding the object attached to it in her hand, the chain swung back and forth as she walked over to him. She took his hand and dropped the chain in his palm, putting a sliver key on the top of the silver coil. He looked down at it then at her questionably. "It opens the doors that lead from my balcony to my bedroom, and there's a trellis on the side of the house you can climb to get to the balcony." She blushed and pushed her hair behind her ear. "I wanted you to have a copy in case something happened," she explained.

He smiled and took the chain, draping it over his head, the key bounced once when it hit his chest. "Are you sure you trust me enough to give me a key that leads to your bedroom?" he smirked and grabbed his shirt, pulling it on.

"I think I'll risk my chances," she rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag. "Do you feel like giving me a ride home?"

"Always," he smirked and slung his bag over his shoulder, pulling his keys from his pocket. Nami followed him outside to his bike; the parking lot was completely empty, save for two bikes. Nami recognized it immediately; it was Cabaji's. Her eyes scanned the parking lot, looking for him but she didn't see him anywhere. "He's not watching, it's alright," Zoro whispered into her ear. His breath fanned over her neck, teasing her skin and sending a delightful tingle down her spine and damn him but she liked it.

When he pulled into her driveway she pulled out a sharpie from her bag and took his hand. She scribbled down four numbers on his palm and climbed off the bike. "Arlong turns the security system on when he goes to bed, that's the code that'll unlock the front gate and disable the alarm," she told him.

Zoro nodded as he glanced behind her, looking for something. She wasn't sure what it was or if he found it or not, but he looked back at her with a wickedly, dangerous, sexy smile. Slowly he reached out and cupped her face in his big palm. His skin was warm and calloused against her skin, it felt so god. She knew Zoro could break her in half if he wanted to, but he was so gentle with her as he dipped his head. His lips were soft as he kissed her, a light bussing of skin, so different from the night he'd kissed her in front of Arlong. This was meant to claim her; to slowly work his way into her mind, body, and soul; branding himself under her skin. And it was working. His thumb brushed lightly back and forth over her cheek as he rubbed his lips across hers. "Be careful," he whispered against her skin before slowly pulling away. Nami nodded and watched him drive away before she turned to go inside. There was a note on the fridge from Arlong. Apparently he'd been called away last minute on a business meeting and wouldn't be back until the next day, just in time to see her show. He was sending Hatchi and Buggy over to look after her until he got home. They wouldn't show up until late though, closer to midnight she guessed. Now was her chance. If she played her cards right, she could get all the information she needed tonight, and then tomorrow after the show, disappear.

She made her way upstairs to the second floor, and instead of turning right like she would if she were going to her bedroom, she went left, towards Arlong's office. She'd been warned a long time ago not to go in there, and before now she'd never had a reason to. She didn't know what kind of files were in there, and she didn't think she wanted to know. However, this was her ticket out, she was going to have to suck it up and just do it. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside. His office looked like a scene straight out of a mobster movie. The walls were a dark red and the two chairs facing a desk were black leather. The desk was some kind of dark wood, and on the other side there was a high backed desk chair that would conceal Arlong perfectly. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat when she glimpsed a gun hanging on the wall. It looked like an antique but she didn't doubt that it still worked. She moved over to the desk and turned on the computer; a log in screen popped and required a paskantana. "Damn it," she swore and started looking through the desk for something that would tell her what the paskantana was, though she knew it was stupid to hope, Arlong wasn't stupid, why he would leave… "No way," she pulled out a sticky note and looked at it, her eyes getting wide. He really was stupid. She cringed a little when she saw that his paskantana was her name, but shook it off and typed it in. the log in screen disappeared and his desktop popped up. Now all she had to do was sift through the files until she found what she needed.

Nami sifted through the files, printed off the ones she thought might be helpful in some way. Most of it was just bank accounts, and a list of client names. She didn't know how that was going to help anyone, but it was worth a shot. She was getting ready to shut down the computer when a file name caught her eye. There was a file named after her. She clicked on it and looked through the pages that opened up. There were school transcripts, letters to someone she didn't know about her, e-mail with her name in it, and….a marriage certificate. She read it over, thinking maybe she'd been wrong, but there was no mistaking it. It was a marriage license with her name and Arlong's on it. All that was missing was their signature and the permission of the courts. What the hell…? Nami quickly printed a copy and stuffed everything she'd found into her bag and shut off the computer when she heard the door open and close. She left the room and headed back down stairs. Hatchi and Buggy were just walking into the living room when she got there. "Hey guys," she said plastering a fake smile on her face.

"Hey Nami," Hatchi hugged her, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around. For a grown man he acted an awful lot like a kid sometimes. "Long time no see," he put her back on her feet and smiled.

"Yeah, sorry I've been busy," she looked at Buggy who was leaning on the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "What's eating him?"

"He's just mad because he had to cancel a date," Hatchi said sitting down on the couch and turning on the TV.

"You mean a girl actually wanted to go out with you?" she teased. Buggy glared and moved to the couch sitting at the opposite end as Hatchi. "Well, I'm going to bed, there's food and beer in the fridge," she said going back upstairs. They called goodnight after her and then she heard them fighting about what to watch. She locked her bedroom door behind her and set her bag down beside her bed. She grabbed something to sleep in and walked into her bathroom to take a shower.

XXX

Street lamps flickered over head, a sign that they were in the bad part of town, tonight they were slumming it because they had a date. Zoro had thought Luffy was crazy when he said he wanted to go out tonight because he knew where Arlong was going to be, but he couldn't exactly go against his leader's command, so he'd grabbed his kantanas and followed him. Zoro knew that using kantanas was an out of date method, but guns didn't hold the same kind of thrill for him as kantanas did. He' been practicing with them his whole life, and now prided himself a Santouryuu master. The whole gang was funny that way he guessed. Luffy preferred to use hand-to-hand combat, Usoppe was a sharp shooter and an inventor who would use whatever he created. Chopper was all brawn, and Sanji hated using his hands, he was wickedly sick with his feet though. Franky was the only one who enjoyed using guns. They each had their own fighting technique and because of that, they'd yet to lose a fight. The closest they'd come was when Arlong attacked their old house in the middle of the night. None of them had been ready for it, and they'd nearly lost their lived.

"Oi, Marimo, what's that?" Sanji pointed his cigarette at Zoro's chest.

He looked down at the key that was swinging back and forth as he walked from the sliver chain. Zoro tucked it under his shirt and shifted the kantanas at his waist. "Nothing," he mumbled as they rounded a corner. Sanji looked at him, obviously not buying it, but he wasn't about to tell Sanji of all people that Nami had given him a key that led directly to her bedroom. The curly-browed cook would probably have a heart attack.

Thankfully they found a distraction before Sanji could question him further. When they rounded the corner they walked right into the middle of an ambush. Arlong and all of his little minions were standing in the middle of the street, smirking at them with death in their eyes. Zoro looked around and noticed that Hatchi and Buggy were both missing. He smirked, they were probably with Nami.

"Straw Hat," Arlong called out taking a step forward to separate himself from the rest of the crew. "It's been a while, what have you been up to?"

"Cut the small talk bastard, what are you doing here?" Luffy asked. Zoro eyed his captain carefully, Luffy was quick tempered, and if things got out of control here, there would no doubt be casualties. "This is our turf, get lost," he turned to leave but Arlong laughed. Luffy stopped; his head down and his hair covering his eyes. Zoro didn't know what he was thinking.

"You think we're going to listen to you Straw Hat?" the rest of Arlong's gang started laughing along with him. "Tough luck, we're going to end this tonight." His crew pulled out their weapons and got ready for a fight. Damn it but there was no way to get out of this. Cabaji pulled out two kantanas and Zoro glared. The last time he'd fought the man he was only using one kantana, how the hell did he learn to use two in only a few years? It took Zoro half of his life to be able to use three. His hand rested on his kantana, his thumb pushing out one of the blades an inch.

"What do you want to do boss?" Sanji asked lighting up a cigarette.

Luffy chuckled and turned around, rolling up the cuffs of his jacket. "If they want a fight, we'll give them one," he smirked.

It was a scene straight out of a gangster movie, one second everyone was glaring at each other, the next it was an all out battle, the Straw Hats fighting against The Mermen, it was a dangerous battle because both sides were matched nearly even with each other. The only way to win this fight was to make the enemy make a mistake or over shoot a move to land a blow, and now that Cabaji was using two kantanas, Zoro was going to have a hell of a time. Or so he thought. Cabaji was clumsy, not used to using both of his arms when wielding his kantanas. He was used to blocking with one arm and attacking the other.

Zoro took arms and faced off with the man. It was blow for blow, every time Zoro swung out Cabaji blocked, every time Cabaji tried to get an attack Zoro moved out of the way. It was a game of cat and mouse, every move was carefully calculated. Zoro cursed when he misjudged an attack and the cool blade of Cabaji's kantana sliced his arm. He didn't stop to look at it; instead, he spun around quickly, and caught Cabaji in the side, tearing the man's shirt and skin. He swore and jumped back, his breath heaved and he put his hand over the wound, pulling it back and glaring at the blood that stained his hand. "Had enough?" Zoro asked standing up straight, not tired in the slightest.

"Hardly," Cabaji smirked. "I've been watching you Zoro. They way you look at her, do you really think she could ever love someone like you? You're just a street rat!" Cabaji ran full force at Zoro and swung one of his kantanas. Zoro blocked it and lifted his leg, planning on kicking Cabaji but what he didn't expect was that Cabaji used the kantana in the arm he was used to blocking with and swinging it across Zoro's leg. He swore and growled as the blood pooled down his leg, staining the dark denim of his jeans. "She's never going to fall in love with you, the sooner you realize that, the better off your meaningless existence will be."

Zoro growled as rage started to fill his senses, turning his vision red with Cabaji as the main target. A roar that sounded more like that of a beast ripped from his chest as he drove the blade of his kantana into Cabaji's body, driving it deep. He cried out as his body went limp, blood spilling from the wound in his abdomen. Zoro stood back and sheathed is kantana. "As if you're one to talk," he growled. "Nami would never fall for a guy like you." He turned and looked around at everyone else. It looked like they were holding their own well enough, and soon, Arlong called a retreat, disappearing into the night.

"Oi, Zoro, are you okay?" Chopper asked running over and looking at the cuts on his arm and leg.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he pulled his shirt off and ripped it into shreds, making tourniquets to wrap around the bleeding wounds. "Let's get back home," everyone nodded and headed back home, talking about the fight they'd been in. Zoro was quiet however; all he could think about was what Cabaji had said about Nami. He didn't know why it pissed him off so much, he knew that Nami would never love him; hell did he even love her? It was too confusing right now. He'd only spent time with her when they were rehearsing for the show or when he was taking her home; sure he'd kissed her, twice. The first time he'd done it just to piss off Arlong because he knew that he was watching them, the second time…it seemed like the right thing to do. She'd been so soft against his lips, he felt like he was tainting her skin just by touching her. She was so soft, so smooth, and so delicate. How someone as beautiful as her had ended up in this mess was beyond him. She belonged in the arms of someone who cold promise her protection; promise her safety; someone who would hold her tenderly and never lose their temper with her. She deserved someone who was going to do everything in their power to give her the world, Zoro knew he would in a heartbeat, he'd give his life for hers, but he knew deep down that he didn't deserve her. He shouldn't even think about wanting her, and he shouldn't have kissed her. He knew that but damn it, he was selfish; he wanted Nami to belong to him and no one else. However, he knew that would never happen. She could hardly stand him. He'd been surprised when she hadn't slapped him for kissing her, even more so when he'd seen the blush coating her cheek, making her look adorable, innocent, and sexy all at the same time.

When they got back home Zoro went straight to his room despite Chopper's protests to stay and let him tend to his wounds. Zoro didn't need to be told what he already knew. He'd been hurt, he could feel it. They weren't deep and they were life threatening so he wasn't concerned. They'd close up by tomorrow and yeah he'd probably have scar, but he had so many that two more really didn't make that much of a difference to him anymore. He pulled out his cell and plugged it into the charger before stripping down to his boxers and climbing into bed. However, instead of falling asleep he laid there and stared up at the ceiling, bringing to mind a picture of Nami. He knew it was beyond stupid to want Nami, beyond insane to hope against hope that there was even the slightest possibility that she would ever want him in her life. But no matter how stupid he knew it was he still wanted her and he was still going to try. He sighed nad laid his arm over his eyes, trying to clear his head so he could get some sleep, because unfortunately he was trying to piss Nami off, because she was irresistibly adorable when she was pissed, he'd auditioned for the play and they had opening night tomorrow, and he was going to have to be in the auditorium all day, running through the show. On the other hand, he was getting out of classes all day. Smirking he thought about kissing Nami again in front of Arlong again, he fell asleep.

XXX

Nami was twitching; opening night was always the worst for her. After a year of not being on the stage in front of everyone who showed up, always selling out the house, her nerves were on their toes, and adrenalin was running through her veins like lava. Two warm hands came down on her shoulders. She glanced behind herself and saw Zoro, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "Calm down princess, it's going to go perfectly," she smiled and nodded. "Good," he smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek again. She eyed his arm carefully, when he'd first showed up that morning and took off his jacket she'd seen the wound, but when she asked him about it, he'd told her it was nothing. She highly doubted that was the case but she didn't press the issue. She'd have time to deal with that later. They watched Mr. 2 walk on stage and announced the play, the main characters and the actors playing them before the lights went off on stage, signaling Nami and Zoro's cue to start the show.

_**"Love is a many splendid thing,"**_ the chorus sang as a small spotlight shown down on Zoro and Nami who were standing in the middle of the stage, just on the outside of the curtain that had yet to open up.

"I'm going back to Australia, I might never see you again," Nami said looking up at Zoro. His arms were wrapped around his waist and it seemed like the rest of the world dissolved away into nothingness as he smiled down at her.

"Don't…don't talk like that, Sandy," he brushed some hair away from her face and smiled.

"But it's true! I've just had the best summer of my life and now I have to go away. It isn't fair." she looked down at the floor between them. Zoro's big hand came up and cupped her face, lifting her head so she was looking at him. His hand smoothed its way around to the back of her neck, pulling her in closer to him before he kissed her, hard and somewhat passionate. Nami wasn't sure what to do; when they'd practiced it had been a stage kiss, nothing like this. She remembered that they were putting on a play, not a porno flick and got back into character, pushing him off of her. "Danny, don't spoil it!"

"It's not spoiling it Sandy, it's only making it better,"

"Danny, is this the end?"

"Of course not, it's only the beginning."

The music started and they walked off the stage, Nami to stage left, Zoro stage right. They met up back stage and only had a moment before Zoro had to go back on stage to join everyone else in the chorus for the opening song. Nami stayed back stage and tried to shake that kiss. It was unnerving how quickly he could set her nerve endings afire. Somehow she managed to get her way through the show without messing up, at least until the ending scene. It was the scene where Sandy showed up looking like a badass, and she and Danny did their big dance number together. Nami had quickly changed behind stage into her clothes and felt out of place in the tight leather pants and revealing black shirt as she waited on the side of the stage for her cue. Zoro was at the part where Danny met up with the rest of the greasers, and they were giving him a hard time on his letterman jacket he'd earned while trying to impress Sandy.

"Oh c'mon you guys you know you mean a lot to me, it's just that Sandy does too, and I'm going to do anything to get her back," he said. Putzy turned to leave and stopped, tapping Dooty on the shoulder who turned and looked at him then in his direction, and hit Sonny. That was her cue, Nami walked out on the stage, holding the edge of her black leather jacket, as the rest of the cast on stage whistled. Zoro looked over at her, and it looked like he was completely in character when his eyes got wide and he looked at her. "Sandy?" he asked.

"Tell me about it, stud." Nami smirked and removed the leather jacket, tossing it to Frenchi. The music started, and the Pink Ladies, minus Rizzo came to stand behind her as they smirked over at the boys.

_**"I got chills, they're multiplying,"**_ Zoro started taking off the letterman jacket as he looked at her. _**"And I'm losing control,"**_ He tossed the jacket off. _**"Cause the power you're supplying, it's electrifying!"**_

They broke out into the song and dance, and Nami was completely aware of the way Zoro watched her move in the tight jeans, the way he was fighting to not reach out and touch her when he wasn't supposed to, the muscle in his jaw kept clenching. The people in the audience couldn't see it, but every time she turned around, and Zoro picked his head up to make it look like he wasn't watching her ass when she had her back to him, but he kept his eyes down, running them up and down her body. Trying to navigate the obstacle course of a stage they'd created especially for this scene wasn't easy in the heels, but Nami made it look like a piece of cake. She knew that if it even looked like she was going to fall, Zoro would be there to catch her, his hands were always outstretched just a little, ready to catch her if she fell. She felt completely safe with him, like she'd never felt with anyone else before.

When the song was finished Zoro pulled her into his arms and kissed her, something that hadn't been planned for the play. Completely improvised. He kept it short and quick, but it left Nami's lips aching for more of him. Before she knew what was going on, they were singing and dancing along to their last song, which was a tongue twister of a song that took them nearly all week to perfect, working overtime just on that song. It was probably the most fun song they'd done, but Nami sighed when it was over and everyone struck their final pose on the stage. The lights went off as the curtain closed on them, everyone cheered in the crowed as the cast assembled in a line on stage, to take their bows. The curtain opened up and they smiled as they joined hands and took their final bow. The curtain closed again and everyone left the stage, leaving Nami and Zoro there to take their bows as the lead actors. Zoro pulled her into his arms. "Let's really give them something to cheer for," he whispered into the skin under her ear. Nami didn't have a chance to answer before he pulled her close, dipped her body back and kissed her. The curtain started opening and as soon as they saw her, the whole auditorium started to shake. Nami didn't know if that was from the eruption coming from the crowed, or if it was from Zoro. His lips danced over hers, sending her emotions and nerves alive with a jolt of lighting and fire mixed together, his hands held her possessively. She was very aware that Arlong was in the front row, and she knew that he was probably getting an eyeful as Zoro pushed his tongue into her mouth. Nami gasped, at the sudden contact and gripped his shirt in her hands. She finally found a rhythm when the curtain closed again.

He pulled away slowly, keeping his lips in contact with hers as he pulled her up so she could stand on her feet. She looked up at him through lowered lashes, her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe. "Zoro…"

"You guys were amazing!" Luffy ran onto the stage and clapped Zoro so hard on the back he nearly fell over. Nami caught him and steadied him. "I never thought Zoro could sing!" Luffy laughed.

"I hope those were all stage kisses," Sanji growled and he walked onto the stage followed by everyone else.

Zoro smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He dipped his head and kissed Nami again, to piss Sanji off. Nami giggled then remembered; she had some important stuff to tell him. With everything that had been going on today, she'd forgotten to tell him earlier.

"Guys, listen…I found everything I could on Arlong last night," she said looking up at Zoro. "There's some…disturbing stuff." She thought back to the marriage license she'd found with her and Arlong's name on it.

"Well, then we'll come over later tonight and get you," Luffy said. They looked at him as he smiled a big shit eating grin and put his hands behind his head. "If you've got everything you can, what's the point in holding off?" He looked at Zoro and smirked. "Right?"

Zoro smirked and nodded. "Yeah," he looked down at Nami. "You okay with that?"

"I'll have everything packed and ready to go by two, that should be plenty of time for Arlong to go home and go to bed," she said. They nodded and separated ways, Zoro going home so they could plan their strategy, Nami going off to find Arlong who had roses waiting for her.

The drive home was unnerving for her. He kept asking her questions about Zoro, insisting that she was falling for him. She'd told him that wasn't possible, that she wasn't into guys who had no brains, he'd laughed at that and mentioned something about the kisses he'd stolen on stage, and outside the window at her house. She'd shrugged and told him that Zoro was wasting his time, there was no way she'd ever like him. But that was wrong, beyond wrong. She didn't like him…she loved him.

"I hope you don't mind, but I invited some people over for a small party," Arlong said as they pulled into the driveway. Small party her ass, every member of the gang was there with all of their subordinates. She wondered if two was going to be long enough.

"I don't mind at all," she said smiling as she climbed out of the car. Everyone was waiting for them inside and cheered for her when she walked inside. There were more roses waiting for her, and Hatchi had set up a small buffet on the table in the den along with a cake he'd made during the day while she'd been at school. She stayed up until they'd all left, and it took forever it seemed like. They'd wanted more performances from her, demanded that she put on a private encore for them, and unable to decline, she'd sang for another four hours.

"You look tired, why don't you head up to your room and get some sleep?" Arlong suggest after Hatchi left.

"Yeah, I'll see you in the morning," she said, trying to keep up the charade going. He kissed her head, when they reached the top of the stairs, going to his office while she went to her room. She hoped he didn't log in and find something she'd forgotten to close or overlooked until she was gone. If he found out she'd been on the computer, let alone in his office, her ass was fried.

She walked into her room and changed into one of her nightgowns, just in case he decided to come in and check on her before he went to bed. She didn't think he'd be up much later; he looked as tired as she felt. While she waited to hear his footsteps coming down the hall she started filling a suitcase with clothes, she'd told Zoro she'd bring as much of her own stuff as she could so they wouldn't have to go out and buy more later. He told her that he was brining the car, and then mumbled something about girls always having too much luggage. She rolled her eyes at the memory and grabbed a duffel bag and started throwing her bras and panties inside of it. When that was done she looked around her room to see if she was missing anything, she'd grabbed her laptop, and all the clothes she could fit into the suitcase and duffle bag, and a few pairs of shoes too. In a smaller bag, meant to be a carry-on for plains she'd packed all of her makeup, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, tampons, that kind of thing and put it beside her bed with everything else. Her back pack was in the back of Sanji's car, so they already had the documents she'd found, though they didn't know they were there. She'd just told them to take it with them because it would be one less thing to get out of the house.

Nami looked at the clock. One thirty, she only had another thirty minutes before she was out of Arlong's hold forever. With that thought foremost in her mind she pulled the sheets back on the bed and was getting ready to climb inside of it when Arlong knocked on her door. She sighed and went over there and opened it up, she'd made sure that the suitcases were hidden on the other side of the bed, just in case something like this happened. She opened the door but before she could get anything out, a cloth was placed over her mouth as Arlong pulled her body into his, keeping her from struggling. The world started to spin and dissipate into darkness, her body was going limp as she tried to get away, but in the end, she passed out in his arms.

XXX

"This it?" Sanji asked as they pulled up just on the side of Arlong's house.

"Yeah," Zoro nodded as they got out of the car. Sanji lit up a cigarette while Zoro went to the gate and punched in the code Nami had given him to unlock it. It swung open and they moved into the yard, staying to the shadows. Nami had told him that the balcony only wrapped around her room, so finding her room would be easy enough. They walked around to the backside of the house and saw the trellis. "You know, next time we go on one of these search and rescue missions, we're bringing a ladder," he mumbled as they started climbing it. Zoro and Sanji were sly enough to get up to the balcony with ease and without making any noise, the hard part now was getting Nami back down. He had a feeling that if he told her to jump she'd hit him.

"Now how do we get in?" Sanji asked leaning against the balcony railing.

The man didn't have much confidence in him Zoro realized. "This way," he pulled the key from around his neck and opened up the French doors that lead to her room. They slowly made their way inside, Nami had told them that she was going to leave her light on, but the room was completely dark, save for the moonlight drifting in from the doors behind them. He looked around and saw Nami lying on her bed. She was wearing a black silk nigh gown that went to about her knees, lace lining the edges of it. He groaned inwardly as he saw how it cupped her breasts in that dark material, making them look creamy and making it hard not to reach out and touch her.

"These must be her bags," Sanji bent down to the three bags beside the bed and grabbed them, throwing them off the edge of the balcony. Zoro moved closer to the bed, and started to pick Nami up when someone chuckled from somewhere in the room. He glared and looked around, Sanji moved closer to Nami, as they waited for Arlong to move out of the shadows.

"You really didn't think I'd just let you take her did you?" Arlong asked as he moved out of the shadows. He had his arms crossed over his chest and Zoro could see plain as day the gun in his hand. He laughed and stood on the other side of the bed facing them.

"What did you do to Nami?" Zoro asked. There was no way that she would have fallen asleep he realized, this was a trap, and they'd walked right into it.

"It's just a little bit of chloroform to keep her out of the way for now, wouldn't want her getting hurt now would we?" Arlong glared across the spans of Nami's bed at them. "Now, what the hell do you think you're going to accomplish by taking Nami?"

Sanji sighed as he lit a cigarette and glared at Arlong. "Wouldn't you like to know," he smirked. Zoro rolled his eyes, all Sanji was going to manage to do was piss Arlong off, and right now they had bigger things to worry about; like making it out of here with all three of their lives still intact.

Zoro sent Sanji a look over his shoulder, "Not the time, Sanji." He growled and slowly started to pull out one of his kantanas.

"Nuh-uh," Arlong pulled his gun and pointed the barrel at Nami. Zoro glared and slid it back into its sheath. He didn't like this one bit. Things were about to get ugly real fast and with Nami passed out there was no way for her to get out of the line of fire. "One wrong move and I'll send her straight to hell," he growled. "You're going to put your kantanas down, slowly, and step away from the bed," he growled. Zoro glared as he started taking out the kantanas from the belt around his waist and placed the first two on the ground. He froze with his hand on the last one, half way drawn. "That one too," Arlong nodded, his gun still pointing at Nami's head. Zoro looked carefully at the distance across the bed, and Arlong's finger on the…he smirked and with lighting quick speed drew his kantana, and plunged it into Arlong's stomach.

"Zoro! You idiot! What do you think you're doing?" Sanji yelled.

Zoro smirked and re-sheathed his kantana before Arlong even hit the ground. "He didn't even have his finger on the trigger, he was bluffing," Zoro stared down at Arlong, he was holding the wound on his stomach and glaring up at him. "You're too weak to kill someone, that's why you have everyone else do it for you," Zoro turned away from him and picked Nami up from the bed. He knew she didn't weight much, and easily carried her out of the room, grabbing his two kantana on the way. He carefully climbed down the trellis one handed as he cradled Nami's body against his, making sure his footing wasn't going to slip before taking another step. Sanji climbed down quickly and grabbed Nami's bags to the car. Zoro slid into the front seat and closed the door, holding Nami on his lap. "You got a blanket or something in here?" Zoro asked as his hands brushed the bare skin of her arms. She was freezing.

"Yeah," Sanji reached around behind the seat and pulled a blanket off the floor and handed it to him.

Zoro draped it around her limp body and locked the door out of caution. "Let's get her back to the house," Sanji nodded and sped down the road as he called Luffy to fill him in on what happened. Zoro stared down at Nami and smoothed some hair away from her face. She looked like an angel sleeping there in his arms, and something deep inside of him was screaming at him that this was right. She was meant to be in his arms, he was meant to protect her. He pushed that thought away and stared out the window; he'd made up his mind before they even left the house, he was leaving this up to Nami. If she wanted him, she would have him, if not, he would suffer in silence and no one would be any wiser to it. Sanji pulled into the driveway and grabbed her bags and Zoro carried Nami inside. Chopper came over to look at her, "I think she'll be okay, it was chloroform," Zoro told him.

Chopper nodded and went into the kitchen and grabbed some medicine and brought it out to him, "She's going to have a headache when she wakes up, this should help with it," he told him handing him the medicine.

"Alright, I'm going to go lay her down," He carried Nami into his room and pulled the sheets back and laid her down, staring down at her as Sanji carried her bags in and put them against the closet door. He was perfectly aware of the man's eyes on his back, staring at him as he stared at Nami. "What is it Sanji?" he asked.

"You know, all you have to do is tell her how you feel and she'd probably tell you the same," he said quietly behind him.

Zoro shook his head and smirked, looking over his shoulder at the blonde. "No, she wouldn't. Take a good look at me Sanji, I'm in a gang, I've killed people. Why would she want that? She deserves better, you and I both know that."

"You're an idiot," Sanji lit up another cigarette and left, closing the door behind him.

Zoro sighed and looked back down at Nami; one of her hands was draped over her belly while the other one was resting beside her head. Her red hair fell over her face and he bent slowly and smoothed it away. He smiled and pulled the blankets up over her before he left the room. Luffy was sitting on the couch watching TV with everyone else when he walked into the living room. He looked over at him and smiled. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"You know it," Zoro smirked and sat down beside him and glanced at the TV, it looked like some kind of celebrity drama show on MTV or something like that. Zoro didn't pay much attention to it, he didn't care much for TV, and it was the company he was after right now. "What do you want to do now, Luffy?"

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked looking over at him.

"Arlong's not going to take this very well; he's going to tear up the whole city looking for her," he sighed and slouched on the couch, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Shit's going to go down, and it's going to go down fast."

Luffy shrugged and looked back at the TV. "We'll deal with it when the time comes, no sense in worrying about it right now.

Zoro sighed and shook his head. That was Luffy, he didn't worry too much. He honestly didn't know how he did it, but it seemed to make everyone else a little more calm and Zoro was thankful for that, especially since Usopp and Chopper really didn't like danger too much. He sighed and sat on the couch with everyone else while they watched TV, doing his best to pay attention to it so he wasn't thinking about Nami, who was lying in his bed.

"Zoro?" he looked over his shoulder in the direction of the voice and smiled. Nami was standing in the door way, leaning against the door frame and she still looked half asleep and confused, and absolutely beautiful. "What's going on?"

Zoro pushed off the couch and walked over to her. "You're okay, we got you," He picked her up and carried her back into the bedroom, softly closing the door behind him. "How's your head?" he asked putting her on the bed.

Nami shrugged, "Fine, what happened?" she asked.

Zoro sighed and moved hair from her face. "Arlong knocked you out using chloroform, when Sanji and I showed up you were already passed out, I stabbed him, but there's no way he's dead yet," he kissed her head and smiled. "The important thing is that we got you,"

Nami leaned forward and laid her head on his shoulder, "Thank you, Zoro," she whispered.

"You sound tired," he murmured into her hair. She nodded slowly and cuddled closer into him. He smiled and laid her back on the mattress but when he started to pull away she pulled him back. "Nami?"

"Stay with me, please?" she asked. Zoro knew it was a bad idea, probably the worst ever, but still, he took his shirt off and climbed into bed with her. Nami curled her body into his and closed her eyes. He wrapped an arm around her as he pulled the blankets up over them, hoping and praying that he wouldn't wake up in the morning with something she didn't need to know about.


	5. A Watched Pot Never Boils

Chapter 5: A Watched Pot Never Boils

Arlong growled as Jango pulled the needle and thread through his body to seal the wound from Zoro's kantana. That damn bastard was going to pay, he was delusional of the thought that he was just going to sit back and let Zoro take Nami from him. He had plans for her and he'd be damned if he let those damn Straw Hats ruin that. "All done boss," Jango mumbled as he cut off the thread.

"Good," Arlong stood up slowly and looked around the room; all of the members were gathered in his den, waiting for their orders. He growled and turned away from them.

"What do you want us to do boss?" Cabaji asked.

Arlong glared and looked at him, this was partly his fault. "Nothing," he growled. At least not yet, he was going to give Nami a chance to enjoy her freedom, so she would know how hard the real world was, so she would appreciate all he did for her. He also knew that the longer he wanted to make a move the more nervous and anxious the Straw Hats would become and the more likely they were to make a mistake.

"What are you talking about boss? You're just going to let them get away with this?" Hatchi asked.

"Of course not!" he snapped; then smirked as he stared out the window. The sun was just starting to come up. "But a watched pot never boils," he smirked as everyone started laughing; catching on to what he was planning.

XXX

Zoro groaned as he rolled over and momentarily froze. He glanced down through one half opened eye. Last night's memories raced back to the surface as he looked down at Nami. She was still fast asleep, and after he rolled over, she's backed up against him, her body searching for the warmth of his under the sheets. A smile curved his lips and he wrapped an arm around her waist and dropped a kiss on her head while he used his other arm as a pillow. He'd opted during the night to change out of his jeans and into pajama pants, and it felt weird under the sheets because he was so used to wearing only boxers, or nothing at all. His fingers absently played with her hair as he watched her sleep, and thought about what was going to happen o them. There was no doubt in his mind that Arlong was going to start planning a way to get Nami back and take them all out, but he wasn't going to start worrying about that now. He honestly couldn't when he was looking at Nami lying in his arms. Even with her hair tussled from sleep she still looked amazingly beautiful. He smiled when she moaned softly and shifted slightly. He wasn't sure what kind of gods were looking at him, especially since he didn't believe in any kind of god, but he was thankful that he was getting this time with Nami; awake or not.

Nami started to stir; she rolled over and buried her head in his chest, snuggling deeper into the sheets. "Nami?" he whispered softly in case she was still sleeping.

"G'morning," she mumbled.

Zoro chuckled and smoothed hair from her face. "Good morning."

She lazily rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked ruffling up her hair.

Zoro reached over to the bedside table and grabbed his phone, pulling it from the charger. "Around twelve," he said with a sigh. Sanji hated it when they missed any meals and they'd slept clean through breakfast, and if they didn't get up soon, and with the rate they were going it didn't look like they were going to, they were going to miss lunch too. Nami just nodded her head and cuddled closer to him.

"Oi! Zoro!" Sanji knocked on the door and poked his head inside, glaring at him. "I don't mind if Nami sleeps all day, she probably need it, but you have no excuse to stay in bed all day," he snapped.

"Good morning to you too mother," Zoro mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "Are you always so loud?"

"Get your ass up!" Sanji growled and nearly slammed the door shut.

Nami giggled and leaned up on her arm and glanced at the door before looking at him. "Is he always like that?"

"Only to me," he mumbled. "He's touchy when it comes to food."

Nami sighed and lay back down, resting her head on his chest. "We should probably get up so he doesn't get more upset."

"Probably," he sighed. Zoro really didn't want to get up now that she was laying her head on his chest, but he knew she was right. Nami leaned up and gave him a funny look. "What?"

"You need to shave," she told him.

Zoro reached up and ran his hand over his jaw. "Damn it," she was right. He was starting to grow stubble; if he didn't shave he was going to start looking like that chain smoking cook. "Why don't you go take a shower and I'll shave when you get out."

Nami gave him a flirtatious smile before she climbed out of the bed and walked over to her suitcases sitting by his closet door. She dug around for some clothes and pulled one bag over her shoulder. "What's the point?" she asked. "It's a big bathroom, you can shave while I take a shower, and while you're showering I'll blow dry my hair," she turned back to look at him. "I won't look if you don't," she smiled.

Zoro smirked and grabbed his clothes and followed her out of the bedroom. Everyone looked at them as they crossed the room to the bathroom. "Oi, where are you two going?" Usopp asked when they started to disappear into the bathroom. Zoro smirked over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him and locked it.

"What's going on?" Sanji asked, walking into the living room while drying his hands off.

"Zoro and Nami went into the bathroom together, I wonder if Nami's hurt or something," Chopper said, still looking at the door.

"WHAT?" Sanji yelled.

"Yeah, Nami was carrying her bag and some clothes, Zoro had some clothes too," Usopp said; then he was quiet for a moment when they heard the shower turn on. "Wait…Zoro you pervert!"

I don't get it, what's going on?" Luffy asked. Chopper just shrugged, not getting it either.

Zoro smirked when he heard Sanji yell from outside the bathroom. Nami was inside the shower with the curtain drawn, removing her nightgown and panties before turning on the water. "Do they all have dirty minds?" she asked over the water.

"Well Luffy is too naive to pick up on anything, and chopper's too innocent," Zoro explained. "I'll probably get an ear full from Sanji when we get out."

Nami laughed a little and said, "Don't worry, I'll back you up."

He smirked when he heard the sounds of water soften when she stepped under the spray. He could just imagine what was going on behind that curtain; her naked body with the water running down her curves, those soapy suds clinging to her skin as they slipped down her body.

_Get your head out of your dick._

He sighed and started filling the sink with water so he could shave, trying his damn hardest not to think about the woman in the shower.

XXX

Nami was blushing, she could feel it, but how could she not be? She was standing naked in a shower, and Zoro was right outside the curtain, in nothing but pajama pants that looked like they might be a little lose on him, shaving. She washed her hair and rinsed it out and smiled a little. She liked waking up next to Zoro, something about it felt right deep inside. Like something was screaming at her that this was where she belonged. She knew that probably wasn't true, it was Roronoa Zoro after all. She sighed and started smoothing conditioner into her hair, trying to shake the blush off her face, which she easily did when she remembered why she was in Zoro's bed; Arlong had knocked her out the night before.

How had he known that she was planning on leaving? And that Zoro was coming to get her? She'd been so careful, making sure that she played the part perfectly, so how was it possible that he'd known? And more importantly what the hell was with that marriage license? She shivered when she thought about the only possibility: Arlong wanted to marry her. That thought made her sick to her stomach, he was supposed to be her father, not her husband, for heaven sake he was twice her age! It was gross and wrong, and there was no way in hell she was ever going to marry him, even if he tried to force her she wasn't going through with it.

She sighed and turned off the shower and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body before she pulled the curtain back and stepped out. Zoro was leaning over the sink washing off his face with some water and draining the sink. He looked over at her and Nami felt that blush creep right back under her skin. "It's all yours," she said, thankful her voice didn't crack.

"Thanks princess," he kissed her cheek as he walked past her and stepped into the shower. She heard his clothes being thrown over the top of the shower before he started the water. Nami shook her head and tried to get rid of the blush again as she dried off and got dressed. She pulled on a pair of tight skinny jeans and a halter mid-drift that cupped and pressed her breasts against each other, creating a wonderful cleavage. She used her towel to dry her hair as best as she could before she plugged the hair dryer and flat iron before she combed her hair out and started drying it. The sound of the hot air blowing on her hair helped calm her down a little because she couldn't hear Zoro in the shower. Well it helped until he stepped out of the shower, all wet from the water and a towel wrapped low around his waist. He gave her a smirk as he stared drying his hair off with the towel she'd used. "You didn't have any problems did you?" he asked as he hung up the towel he used on his hair and pulled a pair of boxers on under the towel around his hips.

"N-no," Nami stuttered as she stared at him. She hadn't realized he was quite this good looking before, maybe it was the water reflecting off his body like that, she didn't know but she liked what she saw.

He glanced at her and flashed her a smirk before taking the towel off and drying off his chest. "You alright, you look a little flushed," he asked

"Idiot, I'm fine," she turned away and looked in the mirror as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and tied it back, she wasn't about to let him know that she had the hots for him, that was an ego boost he so didn't need. "You ready?" she asked glancing at him.

"Yeah," Zoro nodded as he shoved his dirty clothes into a hamper that looked like it was overflowing. Nami rolled her eyes and reached for the door, getting ready to leave, but before she even had it part way open it was slammed shut. She gasped and turned around, staring up at Zoro. He had one arm braced on the door above her head and he was leaning over her; his towering body shrouding hers in his shadow. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite read, but she was pretty sure it was a mix of lust and dark passion, and she didn't know which one scared her more. "Z-Zoro?"

His smirk widened and sent a cold shiver down her spine. "You know that as soon as we go out there, Sanji and Usopp are going to be all over us; asking what happened in here," he chuckled and leaned in closer, his lips a whisper of a breath away from hers, "and I'll be damned if you go out there without even a fading blush covering that beautiful skin." Nami gasped when Zoro slanted his lips over hers, and his arms wrapped around her body, pulling her in closer to him. She was too weak to push him off, and honestly she didn't want to. Slowly her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back. His kiss warmed her straight down to her toes and sent electricity, warm as whisky with all the sweet burn of vodka running through her veins. And it ended much too quickly. He pulled away slowly and gazed down at her with those sinfully dark eyes. "Much better," he smirked.

He reached behind her and pulled the door open, smirking down at her. Nami could feel the blush hot on her cheeks as she stepped out, cradling her dirty clothes in her arms, and her bag over her shoulder. She looked around and realize that everyone was staring at them, Luffy and Chopper looked confused, Usopp and Sanji looked pissed (Sanji more so than Usopp) and Franky, well Franky just looked uninterested. "Uh…hi?" she mumbled.

Sanji walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Nami, did he do something to you? Did he hurt you?" he asked.

"Zoro I can't believe you! You completely took advantage of her!" Usopp interjected before Nami could even open her mouth to say anything.

"Damn Marimo, I'm going to kick your ass," Sanji pushed past her and grabbed Zoro by the front of the shirt and slammed him into the wall. "What the hell is your problem?" he demanded.

"Sanji, calm down, we didn't do anything!" Nami shouted to get over the sounds of Zoro and Sanji cussing at each other. "I got in the shower and took my clothes off behind the curtain on before I started the water while Zoro shaved. I got dressed when he was inside of it," she calmly explained. Sanji looked at her and slowly let go of Zoro. "We didn't do anything, the blush is just from the heat of the shower," she added.

Sanji nodded and then smiled, taking her hand in his and kissed the back of it. "I apologize for losing my temper," he said softly.

"Its fine," Nami slowly pulled her hand free of Sanji's grip and walked back to Zoro's bedroom and put her bag inside. Damn, if they were going to get touchy every time she and Zoro were together, maybe she should start sleeping on the couch. She sighed and walked back out into the living room. She glanced at Zoro and gave him a quick smile before she went into the kitchen, Sanji was working on lunch and whatever it was, it smelled delicious. "What can I help with Sanji?" she asked standing beside him, watching him expertly slice and dice some vegetables.

"Oh, Nami, you don't have to do anything, you're a guest here, asking you to do something wouldn't be right," he said smiling.

"Too bad, I'm helping, now tell me what to do." he looked at her blankly for a minute before smiling. He told her she could set the table and then she helped him watch the things on the stove, so they didn't over boil. They shared some small talk while they finished up lunch.

"So…can I ask a personal question?" he asked after they'd been silent for a while.

"Sure," Nami was stirring what looked like potato soup and keeping an eye on whatever was in the oven.

"What was it like? Living with Arlong I mean, I just can't picture him as the fatherly type," he said, his voice was soft, as if he really didn't want to know the answer.

Nami sighed and looked up at the ceiling, a sad smile tugging at her lips. "Well, it wasn't easy that's for sure. He didn't like to let me do much of anything without someone constantly watching me. He'd forced the school to make sure Cabaji was in all of my classes, and if he ever let me go over to Vivi's even for just an hour or two, Buggy or Hatchi were outside in the car, watching to make sure nothing happened. He really didn't take much interest in my life other than school. He'd put in me in all advance classes, and made sure that each of them were going to be able to get me a good job somewhere. If my grades slipped, he'd make me stay up all night studying, or until I passed out at the table, he wanted me to have perfect grades, perfect everything pretty much." She sighed and looked down at the soup, absently stirring it. "Sure he gave me anything I wanted, material wise, and he never missed a birthday or anything like that, but…it wasn't a family you know? He was secretive a lot, I'd known since I was probably eight that he was the leader of the Mermen Gang, and that he pretty much controlled the city just because everyone was scared of him, but other than that and the actual members of the gang, I never really knew much. He didn't like to talk about it, and I didn't pry because I'd witnessed his anger on more than one occasion and it's not something I wanted to feel myself." She smiled and thought about waking up in Zoro's bed after they'd gotten her out of there. "When I woke up last night, and I realized that I wasn't in my bed, and I wasn't in his house…I felt like I could really breathe for the first time without everything I did being monitored. He was crazy protective, and a little possessive," she shrugged, "it's just something I learned to deal with, did I like it? No, but I dealt with it, that was the only thing I could do."

"Nami…"

She smiled and looked up at him. "But that's all you can do right? Learn how to survive?" she thought about it and realized that though her prison didn't have bars, it was a prison none the less. "Besides, you have go through something to make something of yourself right?"

"You got that right," they both looked over to the kitchen door and saw everyone standing there, looking at the two of them. Luffy smiled and gave her a wink. "Besides, you're one of us now, and we look out for our own, right Sanji?"

"Yeah," he nodded and smiled at Nami. "You're one of us, so you don't have to worry about him anymore; we'll look after you,"

Nami smiled and felt tears stinging her eyes. She'd never had anyone actually want to look out for her before. Vivi had been concerned sometimes, but she'd never asked if there was anything she could do…and these guys, guys she'd just met and really gotten to know not long ago, were ready to take on her father for her. She looked over at Zoro as she felt a tear roll down her cheek; she quickly wiped it away and looked away from him. There was something in the depths of those dark eyes that told her he would do more for her than just defend her from Arlong, he'd die for her, and that unnerved her a little bit because she honestly didn't think she was worthy of those feelings.

They sat down for lunch and Franky seemed to want to get right down to business. "So when do you plan on handing over those files you stole?" he asked glaring at her from across the table. Nami knew the man didn't like her, but she didn't ever say anything, she was walking on pins and needles with him and the last thing she wanted to do was upset him.

"They're…Sanji where's my backpack?" she asked.

He looked at her from over the rim of a glass. "Still in my car,"

Nami nodded and got up, walking out of the room. She went out to the garage and pulled her bag from the backseat, but when she was turning to go inside something made her freeze in her footsteps. The air seemed to change and there was the slight smell of rain in the air, she looked around and slowly walked back inside. "Are all of the windows closed?" she asked as she sat back down in her chair between Zoro and Sanji.

"They should be, why?" Usopp asked.

"A storm's coming, it'll be here in about five minutes," she said pulling the files out of her bag.

"How is that possible?" Chopper asked. "They sky's blue, there's not a cloud in the sky."

"Just trust me," she mumbled and started sifting through things putting the most important files on top and the least important at the bottom of the pile. Five minutes later the sky turned an ugly, dark, black color and thunder shook the house as a downpour started out of nowhere. Everyone looked at her, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. "What?"

"How did you know that was coming?" Usopp asked. "It was a perfect day not even five minutes ago!"

Nami shrugged. "I've always been able to do that, it's just a sixth sense I guess," she laid the papers out on the table in front of her and looked at everyone, mainly Luffy. "I got what I could find that looked like it could be helpful, there wasn't much. I got a bunch of bank account information, and there were a lot of withdrawals and deposits, there were no transactions under nine thousand belli. I also found a list of client names and a small bio on all of them," she said shifting through the papers. "Some old building permits, weapons permits, and…this." She handed Luffy the marriage license and let him look at it.

"What is it?" He asked looking up at her.

"It's a marriage license, with mine and Arlong's names on it. All it's missing is our signatures and a signature from a judge," she said glaring at the paper. Zoro and Sanji both growled on the sides of her. "I can't think of a reason for him to have it other than the obvious, he wanted to marry me," she sighed and folded her arms across her belly. "I also found these," she handed Zoro and Sanji each half of the e-mails that had her name in them a couple of times. She'd highlighted the main parts. "They're e-mail talking about me, and stuff like that, but this one…it was the most disturbing one." She sighed and looked down at the paper in her hands.

"What does it say?" Chopper asked.

"That my adoption was never…official," she whispered, not even sure that they heard that last part. Apparently they're hearing was quite good because there was a collective gasp and a few growls. "I guess he just took me from wherever I was living when I was young, I was five when it happened, but I can't remember anything about living somewhere before Arlong." She gripped the paper as rage started to fill her, making her blind to it. "I guess when he walked into my room he saw some maps I'd drawn and decided he wanted to exploit my little gift, I didn't even know what I was doing when I was younger, I was just drawing."

"That's horrible…" Chopper looked at Luffy and ground his teeth together. "Luffy we can't let Nami marry him!" he shouted.

"Yeah!" Usopp agreed.

Luffy looked over at Nami and gave her a small smile. "Like I said before, she's one of us, so nothing's going to happen." He smiled and looked around at everyone at the table. "Once a nakama, always a nakama right?"

"Yeah!" everyone shouted. Nami smiled and felt the tears threatening to break again. She couldn't believe that they were willing to risk everything for her. She felt like this was what a real family was supposed to feel like, and she was going to do anything to keep it.

A few hours later she was home by herself, everyone had gone out to scout out their turf of the city, making sure there wasn't anything going down and everyone had agreed that it was too dangerous for her to go out this time. So she'd put on some music and started cleaning while they were out. Sanji was a good cook, but it didn't like any of them were very good at anything else. She'd done three loads of laundry, vacuumed, swept and mopped, dusted, and was in the middle of folding laundry when the guys came back.

Usopp let out a low whistle as they looked around the house. "Dang Nami, what did you do Mr. Clean the whole place?" he asked.

She smiled and folded up one of Zoro's shirts. "Pretty much, it was the least I could do," she smiled and folded the last pair of pants and had them all lined up based on size. Thankfully everyone had different size clothes so it made separating things easier. "I'm still washing towels, but your clothes are all done if you want to put them away."

"Nami's awesome!" Luffy shouted as he grabbed his clothes and ran off to the bedroom.

"Bring out sheets if you want them done too!" she called out after him as he ran off.

"Thank you, Nami," Sanji said smiling as he grabbed his clothes and walked off.

"No problem," she smiled as everyone else thanked her, except one person.

Zoro came to stand behind her, his thighs pressing into hers as his arms caged her in, his chest pressed against her back and his breath fanned over her neck. She bit her lip to resist backing up into him. "Thank you, Nami," he whispered and dropped a kiss on her shoulder before he grabbed his own clothes and walked into his room.

Nami sighed and tried to calm her heartbeat, it was racing and beating so hard she thought it was going to beat right out of her chest. Damn that man, why did he have to have this kind of effect on her? It pissed her off because she fell for it every time, and he knew exactly what he was doing to her. She growled and grabbed the laundry basket and headed back through the kitchen to the laundry room and dropped the basket down. She needed to get a handle on her emotions before things went too far. She dint think she'd be able to handle it if she told him that she loved him only to find out that he didn't feel the same way. This wasn't going to be easy…especially since they were sharing a bed…


	6. Hate the Sin but Love the Sinner

Chapter Six: Hate the Sin but Love the Sinner

Nami sighed as she pulled the last load of laundry from the dryer, it was close to eleven at night, and she'd been doing laundry all day it seemed. After the guys had all gotten home, and put away their clothes, they'd all brought out their sheets and a few other things that had been lying around their room. Sanji had offered to help her with the laundry, but she'd told him that she honestly didn't trust him with the detergent. "I don't think that's a good idea Sanji," she's said smiling. "I saw some of the whites; they looked like they'd been dyed pink."

He smiled and nodded his head. "I can cook, but I honestly don't get laundry," he said sheepishly.

Nami just smiled and carried another basket into the laundry room. "Then, stick to what you know, besides if I'm going to stay here, I should be able to do a few things around the house, cleaning and doing laundry don't bother me at all," she said. She really didn't, when she'd gotten old enough to clean and do laundry at Arlong's she'd started doing it herself, even though he had a hired maid to do those things. She didn't like the thought of someone else going through her things.

She took the basket into the living room and propped it up on the arm of the couch beside Zoro. The guys were watching some kind of sports program and it looked like every single one of them had a beer, even Chopper. She just smiled and started fold the last load of sheets. When a commercial came up she looked at the guys. "Do you want me to make your beds?" she asked, putting the last of the folded sheets in the basket.

"Nah, we can do that ourselves," Sanji said getting up. Nami nodded and handed out their sheets, and let them take them.

"Zoro, I can make yours, I have to go in there anyways," she grabbed the basket with Zoro's sheets in them and walked into the bedroom. She closed the door behind her and took the pillows off his bed. Nami quickly made the bed and put the pillows back, and then stared into space, looking at the bed. She could still feel Zoro's lips on hers from that morning and the way his body has pressed against hers. She'd never felt anything like that before, and it happened every time he kissed her. She knew she was falling in love with him, but she was scared. This was Zoro for heaven sake! He wasn't the kind to fall in love, he was the one night stand kind of guy and she had to be carefully around him. If she fell too hard, she knew that she was going to end up making a huge mistake. She was still a virgin and she'd told herself a long time ago that she was going to wait for the right man; Zoro held all the power to change that.

She sighed and grabbed her duffle bag and pulled out her hair brush. Pulling her hair back she made up her mind; Zoro was off limits. Nami grabbed the laundry basket and dumped it back in the laundry room before she dropped down onto Sanji's lap on the couch. She stretched out with her head in Luffy's lap and her feet in Zoro's. "What are we watching?" she asked.

Sanji smirked down at her, "Football," he said. Nami shrugged and closed her eyes, listening to the sports news caster talk and thought about how nice this was. Sanji's hands were resting on her belly and thighs, Luffy, surprisingly enough, was playing with her hair, and Zoro's finger tips were running over her calves and ankles. Chopper moved from resting against the arm of the couch to sitting in front of her, his head resting against her hip and after Usopp got back from the kitchen with more beers for everyone he sat beside Chopper, one of his arms behind his head, curling around her waist. Franky was the only one who didn't come over, he stayed in his chair, Nami knew he didn't like her, she just hoped that would change in time.

She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the touch of everyone, it was nice and the closeness of it all warmed her, it was a closeness only a family could know and give, for the first time in her life, Nami felt like she belonged somewhere. This gang was her family and these men were her brothers.

Chopper yawned and stretched when the football game was over. "I'm going to bed," he mumbled and stood up. "Night Nami," he smiled and kissed her forehead before walking off.

"Bed sounds good," Usopp agreed, kissing her forehead as well and followed Chopper to their room.

Nami watched Franky walk off without a word and sighed. "I don't think Franky likes me every much," she mumbled looking back at the TV.

"Eh, don't worry about him, he's just crabby," Sanji said as he lit a cigarette and took a long drag, slowly blowing it out.

"Yeah, besides you're nakama now, he'll learn to like you."

Nami glanced up at Luffy and smiled. "Yeah," she said as her smile slowly faded. "Luffy, can I ask you something?"

"Huh," he looked down at her. "What is it?"

"I want you to teach me how to fight, I want to be able to do something more than clean and do laundry," she said softly.

"Nami, it too dangerous for you to go out there and fight, you could get killed," Sanji said smoothing his hand over her side. "Just leave the fighting to us."

"You could die too, Zoro has wounds from the last time you guys went out!" she protested. "Besides, I don't remember asking you." She looked back at Luffy. He just smiled at her and nodded his head. "Really?"

"Yeah, besides I have a feeling you could be a lot of help later on," he smirked.

Nami smiled and nodded. "Oh, Sanji?" she asked looking at him.

"Hmm?" he looked at her as Luffy turned the TV off.

"I need to go to the store tomorrow, do you need anything for the kitchen?" she asked.

He smiled and patted her side. "I'll go with you how about that?"

Nami nodded and saw the way Zoro glared at Sanji. She shook her head and climbed off their laps so they could get up. Luffy and Sanji both kissed her head like Chopper and Usopp had before going off to their rooms. "Are you coming to bed?" Zoro asked looking over his shoulder at her from his door.

Nami stretched out on the couch again. "I'll be there in a little bit; I think I'm going to watch TV for a little bit. She grabbed a half full beer from the table and took a drink. Zoro grunted and closed the door behind him. Nami sighed but didn't turn the TV on, she wasn't planning on sleeping with Zoro anymore, she'd just sleep on the couch. She couldn't run the risk of getting any closer to him; it was dangerous because she knew in the end she was going to end up with a broken heart.

XXX

By the end of the week Nami knew the basics of hand-to-hand combat, she knew how to shoot a gun, which surprisingly she was good at, Zoro taught her a little bit of sword play though she didn't think she was strong enough to use one for very long, and Usopp had even showed her how make homemade smoke bombs. They were walking around the city, and it was getting late, the sun had already set and the flickering street lamps did nothing to calm her nerves. This was the first time they'd let her go out with them, and she was really hoping they didn't run into Arlong or any of his little minions, she didn't think she'd be able to do anything even remotely helpful.

"Well, would you look at what the cat dragged in?" everyone stopped and looked at an alley way as someone started laughing.

"If it ain't Luffy and his little gang of misfits?" another voice asked.

Nami glanced at Luffy who didn't seem to be worried at all, in fact, he was laughing. "Yeah well you two can't look much better," he called out.

"Hey now, is that anyway to talk to your older brother?" Two men walked out of the shadow of the alley and Nami momentarily forgot how to breathe. They were drop dead gorgeous. "I mean, c'mon I'm the one who taught you all you know."

"Yeah well maybe he's finally learned something on his own," the one with red hair nodded at Nami. "Looks like he's got a girl with him now," they smirked.

"Well, who's this?" they walked over to her, and the one that had called himself Luffy's brother took her hand, kissing the back of it. "Portgas D. Ace, at your service," he said smiling.

The other man took her other hand and kissed the back of it and smiled up at her. "Shanks, please to meet you."

Nami blushed clear to her roots. "Nami, nice to meet you," she said thankful that her voice didn't crack.

"Tell me, what's a cutie like you doing running around with these guys?" Ace asked with a smirk.

Nami felt her heart skip a beat in her chest when he looked at her with those dark eyes, and that smile did things to her that were making her forget where she was. "That's none of your business Ace," Zoro mumbled from somewhere she couldn't see.

"Oh lighten up Zoro," Ace called out, never taking his eyes off of her. Nami felt her blush deepen. "Have you had dinner yet Nami?" he asked. She shook her head slowly, unable to find her voice. "Good," he grabbed her hand and pulled her off. "We'll bring her back in a few hours," he called over his shoulder to Luffy. Nami didn't know how the hell she had ended up going for dinner with Shanks and Ace, but with all of the butterflies inside her stomach she was beginning to not mind as Ace led her down the alley. There was a car waiting inside and he held open the front door for her.

"Thank you," she said climbing inside. Ace climbed into the back as Shanks slid into the front of the car. He put the key in the ignition and started it up before he backed out of the alley and sped off. Nami caught a glimpse of Zoro as they passed by and saw the glare on his face. She really hopped he wasn't going to be mad at her.

"So what are you doing hanging out with Luffy?" Shanks asked as he pulled into the main roads.

Nami bit her lip and thought about how much she should actually tell them, then again she knew they didn't have any connections with Arlong, she would have known that, and Ace was Luffy's brother, so they seemed trust worthy enough. "Arlong was…my father," she said softly. "I've lived with him almost my whole life, Luffy and the others helped me get out of there." She looked at her lap and sighed.

"Well, a friend of Luffy's is a friend of hers," Shanks said with a smile.

"How do you know Luffy? I get that Ace is his brother, but what's your connection?" she asked looking at Shanks.

He smiled a little and pulled up to a restaurant. "I looked over Luffy and Ace when they were kids, Ace left before Luffy was old enough to really be on his own, so I raised him." Nami nodded and climbed out of the car with them and followed the two guys inside. They grabbed a table at the back, Ace slid in beside Nami and Shanks sat across from them. "So, how long have you been living with them?"

"About a week," she mumbled and looked around. She didn't know what it was about Ace but when he put his arm on the back of the booth behind her, butterflies started to swarm in her belly. "They've been really nice, and I do the laundry and clean, I mean it's the least I can do," she added.

Ace nodded and leaned in closer to her, his lips brushing against her ear. "You know, I'm surprised none of them have tried to claim you yet," he whispered.

"W-what?" Nami blushed.

"You're way to pretty to not have a boyfriend worshiping your body," he chuckled softly in her ear as his lips brushed her skin, sending a delicious shiver down her spine. "Maybe you should come live with us."

"Hey, Ace, back off a little, you're scaring her," Shanks called out as the waitress came over and handed out menus. Nami opened hers quickly and stared looking through it, trying to get rid of the blush on her face and the butterflies in her belly. Shanks chuckled, "Don't worry Nami, he's harmless, just a big flirt," he told her.

Nami smiled a little, "I don't mind," she glanced over at Ace who was looking through his menu. She couldn't help but think that he was handsome in the dim light of the restaurant, he looked almost beautiful, he was so much more defined than Luffy was. His shirt was open and she could see the planes of a six pack poking out above the table. He had muscles; that was clear enough, but…they weren't like Zoro's. Nothing about him was like Zoro, so why was she feeling like she was being swept away?

XXX

Zoro was sulking, he knew he was, but he didn't care. How the hell could she go off with Ace and Shanks of all people? And that blush…he'd wanted to punch them both jut for causing it. Damn it, Nami was his, didn't she understand that? Apparently not. He sighed and rolled over on his bed and stared at the ceiling rather than the wall. What the hell was he going to do now? He knew she'd been sleeping on the couch every night that week, maybe she didn't feel the same way about him as he did about her. He glared and grunted. "Whatever," he mumbled. He heard the door open and Luffy welcome Nami home, his temper only got worse when he heard that little sigh in her voice. He was going to kill Ace, weather he was Luffy's brother or not. He got up and walked out there and glanced at Nami. Damn it, she was still blushing, and her lips…oh hell no!

"Did he kiss you?" Zoro asked. Everyone looked back at him and Nami's eyes got just a little bigger. She didn't answer him. "Did he kiss you?" he asked again, his temper only getting worse.

"N-no, don't be stupid," She finally said sitting beside Luffy and Sanji on the couch. Oh hell no, she was lying to him. "Besides, what does it matter to you if I did or not?" she asked.

"Nothing, never mind," Zoro walked off into the kitchen before he hit something. Apparently he needed to remind her that she was his…or was she? He never said anything, and he thought he'd been dropping all the right signals, so why was she off flirting with Ace and Shanks? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Damn it, why the hell was he getting so worked up for no reason? Because he was in love with her.

"Zoro?" He glanced over his shoulder at Sanji. "What's doing?"

"Nothing," he mumbled and grabbed a beer out of the fridge.

"Yeah, okay, cause I really believe that," Sanji sighed and leaned on the counter and leveled his eyes on Zoro. Reading him like an open book. "You're pissed because Ace could make her blush like that." He stated.

"You think?" Zoro snapped. He sighed, "I know you're trying to help, but it's none of your business Sanji."

Sanji grabbed him and threw him into the fridge. "Listen good you damn Marimo, unless you're going to do something about Nami, then don't snap at her like that, she doesn't deserve that. Just because you're not man enough to try and make her happy, doesn't mean that someone else isn't."

Zoro glared and threw Sanji off of him, not in the mood to listen to him ramble on about the proper way to treat women and walked back into his room, slamming the door behind him. He hated how Sanji could read him like an open book, he was the only damn one, and it drove him crazy. Still the fact remain, he was going to have to something about Nami.


	7. Bruises and Bitemarks

Chapter 7: Bruises and Bite Marks

"What the hell is your problem?" Nami shouted at Zoro as he walked out of the kitchen, she wasn't far behind him.

"I don't have a problem! You're the one assuming things," he snapped.

"Bull shit! Why can't you just grow a pair and man up? If you're mad at men then say something!" Nami went on.

Everyone watched them from the couch, knowing what was going on, but not saying anything. Sanji had told them last week that this was something Nami and Zoro had to figure out for themselves, and they couldn't get involved, no matter how annoying it was starting to become. This was a daily thing with them, Zoro would make some wise crack about Nami or Ace, and the fight would start.

"I don't have anything to say to you!" Zoro shouted back, turning around and glaring at her.

Even though he had a good four inches on her and he towered over her, Nami didn't back down. She actually moved closer, pressing a finger into his chest. "If you've got a problem with me hanging around Ace, then say something, don't get pissy just because he's keeping me company instead of cooped up inside all day." Zoro glared and opened his mouth to say something but closed it and walked into his room, slamming the door behind him. Nami growled and grabbed her bag, storming off for the door.

"Nami where are you going?" Chopper asked.

"Out, I need to cool down," she growled and slammed the front door behind her. She didn't know what the hell Zoro's problem was, but she was getting sick of it. She'd gone out with Ace every night this week, only because he actually took her places and did things with her. Ever since he and Shanks hijacked her, the guys back home thought that it wasn't a good idea for her to go out anymore. So she'd been cooped up all day with nothing but laundry to do, and TV to watch. She'd stopped going to school because she knew it was too dangerous, so she was bored out of her mind. She was thankful that the guys had taken her in and offered to protect her, but she couldn't stay inside all day, she was going to go insane if she did. Add to the fact that Ace hadn't kissed her since that night; she didn't see what his problem was. She'd told Ace that she wasn't ready for a boyfriend, mainly because she knew she was too in love with Zoro to be with another guy and he'd backed off. He hadn't tried to kiss her or put a move on her since that night. He was just hanging out with her because he knew she was going slightly crazy.

Then there was the fact that Arlong wasn't helping the situation at all. Normally if something of his was taken, he'd be tearing through the city, making a mess of things until he got it back, and the fact that he'd planned on marrying her but wasn't causing any trouble was unnerving. It made her anxious because she never knew when he was going to make his move. It wasn't like him, and she didn't want to find out one night that he'd been planning all the time to kill them all when the guys didn't come home.

She sighed and looked around. "Where the hell am I," she groaned and tried to locate a street sign. Unfortunately she couldn't locate one. Damn she didn't even know how to get back home. "See Nami, this is what happens when you get pissed and run off without paying attention," she mumbled to herself. She was about to pull out her cell phone and call Sanji to come pick her up when someone walked out of the alley she was in front of and smirked at her.

"Hey there cutie, I haven't seen you around here before," he asked looking her up and down. "Where are you from?"

"That would fall under the category of none of your business," she turned to walk away but the man caught her by the arm and pulled her back into the ally, covering her mouth with his hand.

"Now, now, there's no reason to be so hostile, I just want to play, that's all," he said smirking as he pinned her body to the wall with his. Nami glared and tried to get her leg up to kick him, but he figured out what she was doing and pinned her legs with his hips against hers. Damn it she was in trouble. "So pretty," he dipped his head and she could feel her lips on her neck, skimming up to her ear so he could whisper, "soft too, I'm going to have fun with you sweet heart." Nami's breath caught in her throat when she felt his hand on her hip, pushing her shirt up her body, revealing her skin.

_Damn it Nami, what did you do?_ She should have stayed home, she should have just gone into the kitchen or locked herself in the bathroom. She didn't have any leverage to get to the small knife she kept at her thigh, and she couldn't get her legs out to get a decent kick in. She was screwed unless she figured out a way to get out of this. She watched him carefully, his head was still buried in her neck, kissing and lightly biting at the skin as his hand pushed her shirt up to her breasts. When he pulled his upper body away to get it further the hand covering her mouth slipped just enough for her to get her lips around his finger and bite down on it hard.

He yelled and pulled his hand away, but that was all she got, because he pushed his lower half into her harder as he backhanded her across the face. She called out as he head snapped to the side. "You're going to pay for that one," he growled. She saw his hand swing back to hit her again and she closed her eyes, straying away from the hand. But the blow never came. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the man, Zoro was standing behind him, holding his hand behind his head and from the look on the guy's face, it was painful. "Who the hell are you? First come first served!"

"I don't' think so," Zoro twisted the arm in his hands and Nami heard the sickening crack of bones as he broke the man's arm. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground, cradling his injured arm as Zoro picked Nami up in his arms. She was perfectly capable of walking but she didn't say anything. Zoro looked almost demonic and it scared her slightly. He looked down at her as he walked down the street. "Are you okay?" he asked. Nami nodded, other than the stinging in her cheek, she knew she was going to have a bruise there, she was fine. "Good," Zoro grunted and carried her inside. Everyone looked at her and asked what happened, but Zoro didn't let her answer them before he carried her into his bedroom, closed and locked the door behind him. He carefully laid her down on the bed and looked at her. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but that was a dumb question, and she couldn't force anything out of her mouth other than her breath.

Zoro didn't say anything as he climbed onto the bed on top of her, the bed dipped under his weight as he placed a knee on either side of her hips and his hands on either side of her head, looking down at her. Nami's breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him. His eyes were staring into hers, so intense she wouldn't be surprised if he was looking right through her to her very soul. "Zoro," his name left her on a breath before he dipped his head and kissed her. That little fire that started in her veins whenever Zoro kissed her started right back up and lit a livewire to her nerves, sending them to ashes as they started to burn. A soft moan escaped her lips as her arms twined around his arms, pulling him closer to her, pressing her body against his. _Nami, what are you doing, virginity, remember?_ She told herself as Zoro's hands coasted up her body, pushing her shirt up to her breasts, his hands rough with calluses scratched against her skin in the most delicious way. _Oh screw it, I don't care,_ Nami pressed her body against his, her nails drawing small circles down his back and then coming back up, pulling his shirt with her.

He leaned up on his knees and pulled his shirt from his head before reaching for hers and pulling it off, to join his on the floor. Nami wasn't worried about Zoro seeing her in her bra; he'd seen that much when they'd been rehearsing for Grease; it was what was lying under the bra that she was nervous about. But she pushed that thought from her mind; she would deal with it when the time came. He didn't seem in too much of a hurry to rush it though.

He leaned down and placed soft kissed on her neck, trailing up to her ear and moving over to her jaw before he captured her lips with his. It was unhurried, slow, and lazy almost, so much like him. While he kissed her his hands moved over her skin, searching it with slow deliberate strokes, as if he were committing everything to memory. Just from the way he kissed her and touched her, so softly and lovingly made her feel cherished, something no one had been able to do before, and it brought tears to her eyes. Zoro looked up at her, his thumbs brushing them away as he dropped kissed to her eyelids. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Nami said softly, pulling him back down for another kiss. She knew what she was about to do, and she wanted him to kiss her senseless until she didn't care about anything else, especially when he took all of her clothes off and looked at her. She thought she had a rather nice body, she worked out enough to keep it that way, but that didn't mean Zoro thought so. His hands started their search again, starting at her hips and working up her sides until his thumb brushed the underside of her bra incased breast. Her body arched involuntarily as a jolt of liquid fire flooded her veins. Nami had never felt something this intense before, and it was starting to scar her, she didn't know what was happening but her body seemed to know how to respond.

"Sit up for me," Zoro whispered into her hair. Nami leaned forward as his hands moved around to her back, slowly ghosting upwards until his fingertips brushed against the clasp of her bra. She felt him unhook the small clasp and slowly pull the straps down her arms. Her cheeks flamed a dark pink as she was revealed to him. Her mind started to race; what if she wasn't good enough? She dropped her gaze, unable to look at him while he looked at what he'd just revealed to the cool hair. "You're beautiful Nami," he whispered and pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. Slowly she looked up at him and it only made her blush worsen when she saw the intensity in his gaze. He smiled and kissed her lips, slowly easing her back down to the bed. For someone who held so much raw power under his skin, he was so gentle with her. Those tears started to sting her eyes again.

"Nami," he breathed her name as his hands held her hips, his body was tense above hers, holding himself back. "Do you want me to keep going, because once I start, I don't think I'm going to be able to stop, you need to tell me now," he looked down at her, his dark gaze intense.

Nami thought about it; did she want Zoro to be her first? Did she want to surrender that one thing to him, the one thing she could never get back? She looked up at him, searching his eyes hoping her answer was in them. He was looking at her, and yeah there was a whole lot of lust in his stare, but there was something else too, a mix of love and adoration. How could she not give her innocence to him? He'd saved her from Arlong, from a rapist, and he'd stolen her heart away. "I want to," she whispered.

His big, warm hands cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes, searching for something, weather he found it or not she didn't know but when he covered her mouth with his again, she didn't care. She moaned against his mouth, the kiss was hot, and soul searing, his hands—finally—cupped her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her nipples that had drawn in on themselves, achingly hard. Her back arched into his touch, aching for something but she wasn't sure what it was. Her thighs rubbed against each other, thinking that would help. Zoro chuckled against her mouth and one of his hands abandoned her breasts to cup her between her thighs. He ground the pad of his and against her and Nami's breath caught in her throat as white hot pleasure arched through her.

"Zoro, I ache," she moaned grinding her hips to his hand, whatever it was that she needed, it intensified with the touch of his hand.

"I know, don't worry baby, I'm going to take care of you," he whispered, dropping his mouth to her shoulder, kissing a hot trail down to her collar bone, going lower, lower, until his tongue slowly ran out of his mouth to slide over a hardened nipple. Nami bit her lip, arching her back against him. Her whole body seemed like it was on fire, and another wave of pleasure raced through her as she felt herself run wet between her legs.

Zoro's mouth covered her nipple, drawing it into that sinfully wonderful wet cavern, teasing it with tongue and teeth as he licked, bit, sucked, and massaged. Nami fisted her hands in the short strands of his hair, whatever she could get a grip on and pulled him closer, arching her back into him. Shamelessly offering herself up to him. She wanted him to sate the hunger that burned low in her belly, that flooded her senses but she thought she just might die if he stopped touching her. His hand fell away from her sex and moved to the button of her jeans, slowly teasing the button through the mooring. Nami couldn't breathe, couldn't see past what he was doing to her. If she knew it could feel like this, she had a feeling she would have slept with him a long time ago.

Zoro moved down her body, placing kisses until he reached her hips and pulled her jeans off her long legs, taking her panties with them. Nami was suddenly aware of how very naked she was, and how he still had his pants on. She blushed again as his eyes raked over her, ravishing her with that dark gaze. He smiled and kissed her hip, slowly easing her legs open. Nami tasted her own blood when he pressed his mouth against her sex and ran his tongue out to tease her clit. She saw stars when he drew the small, swollen nub into his mouth and sucked on it. She came when he pressed a finger into her and pumped it slowly. She was slowly losing her mind to him.

Zoro groaned when she came against his finger, the tight virgin walls of her pussy clenching around him, trying to draw his finger in deeper. She was so hot and wet and tight and so damn ready for him. It was taking every ounce of strength he had not to rip off his pants and shove into her. He was taking things slow no matter how much he wanted to thrust into her, taking her hard and deep. He had to be careful with her, bring her as much pleasure as he could before he had to hurt her. But when she came like that, he had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer. Her breath was hot and ragged against his shoulder as he buried his head in her neck, slowly easing a second finger inside of her; slowly pumping them and stretching her out. The more he stretched her before he took her, the easier it would be on her. But apparently she didn't care, her nails bit into his shoulders and her legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him in closer to her.

He growled against her neck and ripped his jeans open, shoving them down her legs and spreading her thighs wide. He gripped the base of his cock, throbbing with the need to take her and eased it to her opening, groaning when he touched her hot flesh. "This is going to hurt, I'm sorry," he whispered against her skin.

Was he sorry? He wasn't, he knew he wasn't; not as a dark carnal possession took hold of him. The thought that he was the only man who'd touched her like he was, the only man who was going to take her, claim her, and make her his, was erotic as hell. He wasn't sorry. He slowly eased his aching flesh into her tight sex, using all of his energy to go slow, easing his way deeper, deeper into her, pushing his way past virgin muscles that contracted around him, gripping him tight as a fist until he'd seated his whole length within her. He blew out a breath and looked down at her. There were tears rolling down her cheeks, and still he couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for the pain.

Zoro dipped his head and kissed them away, locking his arms on either side of her head and keeping himself rigidly still above her. Even though he wasn't sorry about being the one who caused her the pain, he would be sorry if he caused any unneeded pain. He stroked her body, pinched and teased her nipples as he kissed her hot and hard. A hand stroked downward until he could run his finger over the tissue that stretched so tightly around him, flicking her clit back and forth. Slowly he teased her body into relaxation, until she was writing under him, begging him to sate the hunger that burned between both of him.

He pulled his hips back, slipping from that hot, wet, tight heat for a heart beat before he started to shaft her slowly. He felt like he was going crazy, nothing had ever felt like this before, nothing had shook his body and drove him completely dizzy with pleasure like her body did. Her nails bit into his shoulders, breaking the skin as she moaned out his name. Her pussy convulsed around his and he bit back a growl as he slammed into her, stroking her clit with his thumb. He dipped his head and nipped at her lips, kissing her hard before he bit down on her bottom lip and pulled. He gave it two hard sucks before mumbling against her swollen lips, "Come for me Nami." She arched and called out his name, her pussy convulsing violently around him as she milked him. He bit his lip and ground his teeth, keeping himself from his own orgasm as she writhed beneath him. She was still coming down from her high when he gripped her ass in his hands and tucked her more fully against him. "I'm done waiting now, you're _mine._" he growled.

Zoro slammed his hips against her, taking her hard and deep, the sheer need to claim her as his was the only thing running through his head. The pain of surrendering to her, of finally taking her, was almost as painful as denying it completely. Zoro could feel his ball grow tight with the need to come; it was explosive as it consumed him. He growled, fighting it back, his fingers sought out Nami's clit again and started flicking it fast, bringing her to another mind shattering orgasm before he gave into his own need. He growled against her neck, whispering out her name as she nearly screamed his, her back arching against him as her pussy milked every last bit of seed from his shaft.

He collapsed against her; breathe coming irregularly as he slowly drifted back down. Their bodies were damp where they pressed against each other. Slowly he pulled himself from her body and lay beside her, curling her body into his as he wrapped his arm around her. She cuddled her body closer to his as he pulled the sheets up around them, dropping kiss after kiss onto her shoulder. "You're mine Nami," he growled into her hair, breathing her in. "I don't ever want to see another man make you blush, that's for my eyes only, do you understand?"

"Yes," she sighed, taking his hand and kisses his palm. "I'm yours," she agreed, her eyelids heavy with sleep. Satisfied with that answer, Zoro kissed her shoulder one last time before closing his eyes, giving into sleep with her, holding her protectively against him.

XXX

Nami woke, stiff and sore. She was almost afraid to move and find out just how sore she really was. Memories of the previous night flooded back to her and she became suddenly aware of the body pressed against her back and the arm around her waist protectively, the soft breath on the back of her neck. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Zoro's hair, teasing the skin of her shoulder. She smiled and couldn't bring herself to feel guilty about last night. Yeah her body was sore, and she probably wouldn't be able to walk right today, but she was happy that she'd done it.

She sighed happily and cuddled closer to him, not wanting to leave the warmth of his body. She closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness and the warmth of Zoro's body pressed against hers. She didn't want to leave the bed, but when someone knocked on the door she knew she was going to have to. The sound was too quiet to wake Zoro up, so she was going to have to answer it. She slowly pried herself away from Zoro's body and grabbed one of the sheets that ended up in a tangle around their feet and wrapped it around her body. Slowly making her way to the door, because her body hurt, she leaned on the inside of the frame and cracked it enough to see who was on the other side. Sanji and Usopp were standing there, Sanji looking absolutely pissed.

"Morning," she said quietly.

"Morning," Usopp nodded and glanced at the sheet covering her body. "Is Zoro awake yet?" he asked.

"Not yet, what do you need?" she asked. She really hoped it was something that could wait, she didn't want to wake him up yet, she wanted to go crawl back into bed and fall back asleep in the warm embrace of his arms.

"Nothing, it can wait for now," Sanji mumbled grabbing Usopp and dragging him off.

Nami shrugged and closed the door. "What did they want?" she looked over at Zoro, he was leaning up on one arm, looking over at her with sleepy eyes.

"Don't know, they asked if you were awake, I told them no," she told him, walking back over to the bed and laid back down beside him.

"Good," he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body closer to his. His lips quickly found hers, claiming her mouth in a kiss that left her wanting more. He smirked down at her, "How's your body?" he asked.

"Sore," she replied honestly. He nodded and rubbed his lips over her cheek, back and forth.

"I'm sorry baby," he whispered. Nami just shrugged it off and laid her head on his shoulder. "It'll get better in a few days," he added.

She nodded her head. "I know," she sighed and kissed his neck once and smiled. "I don't want to get up," she said softly.

"We don't have to."

"Zoro, we can't lie in bed all day, and it looked like whatever was bothering Usopp and Sanji was important."

"They can wait, right now I just want to hold you," he whispered into her hair, tugging lightly on the strands until her head tilted backwards so he could kiss her. Nami moaned into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him; pulling him closer to her. He chuckled against her lips and slowly removed himself from her arms. "Careful princess, you're too sore to get me worked up again." Her pout only earned her a kiss on her bottom lip.

"Zoro!" Sanji yelled, throwing the door open.

"Sanji! You dumbass!" Zoro glared and looked at Nami, making sure she was still covered, and she was, she still had the sheet wrapped around her body. "What the hell do you want?" he growled.

"Something came in the mail for you today," Sanji tossed an envelope onto Zoro's lap and crossed his arms, glaring at him.

Zoro rolled his eyes and started opening the envelope. "If you already opened it why can't you just tell me what it is?" he asked as he pulled picture from it. Nami looked over his shoulder and gasped, her blood running cold and all of the color leaving her face. Zoro pulled out three pictures, one of her, one of him, and one of the two of them together when they'd gone out that first night. There was a big black 'x' on their heads and words written out on the pictures that spelt out, "Like Romeo and Juliet, you're just another tragedy bound to happen." Zoro glared at them and looked up at Sanji. "Where did these come from?" he asked.

Sanji shrugged. "I don't know, they were in the mail, but there's no return address, Luffy figures its Arlong trying to scare us," he said sighing. "Whatever the case is, it's not safe for Nami to leave the house anymore, for any reason."

Nami glared at the pictures and looked at them. They were all from before she'd left Arlong except for the one of her and Zoro together. Someone had been expecting this and took the pictures. She was furious, but she knew Sanji was right, she couldn't leave the house anymore, she wasn't strong enough in any way to be able to get herself out of a mess and she'd just be in their way if anything happened. Zoro kissed her head and slowly removed the pictures from her. "It's going to be okay Nami," he said softly.

She nodded slowly and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower," she started to head for the door but Zoro grabbed her and pulled her back into the bed, pulling her across his chest. "Zoro?"

"You're not going anywhere without me," he said smirking. She smiled and shook her head.

"Can't you at least wait till I'm gone to start that?" Sanji asked crossing his arms.

"No one told you to stay," Zoro growled before claiming Nami's lips in a hot opened mouth kiss. She moaned and tangled her fingers in his short hair, barley aware of the door slamming behind Sanji. Zoro smirked and pulled back once he was gone and looked down at her. "Don't worry, we'll take care of this," he said softly. Nami nodded and knew he was going to do everything to keep her safe, she didn't doubt that for a minute, and that's not what worried her. She was worried that while he was out, trying to protect her, he was going to get hurt and she wouldn't know until it was too late and there was nothing she'd be able to do to help him. She didn't want to be the one responsible for that, she didn't want to be the cause of his death, she loved him too much.

She made up her mind; she was going to end this before things go any worse. Arlong only wanted one thing, as long as he got that he didn't care who did or didn't get hurt in the process. She was going to give up her freedom, give up the man she loved, and probably the only one she ever would, to go back to her prison to keep Zoro, and everyone else, alive. He'd probably hate her for it, and for that she wouldn't be able to blame him, but he didn't need to die because she was a coward and wanted to get away from Arlong. There was no point in her freedom if Zoro died.

He looked at her questionably and pushed some hair from her face. "What are you thinking?" he asked, seeing right through her. Nami, never being one to hide her emotions well, could feel the tears stinging her eyes. He mistook it for fear and pulled her into him, holding her against his chest. "Nami, baby, it's going to be okay, we're not going to let anything happen to you," he whispered into her hair.

"That's not what I'm worried about," she said pushing him back. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me, if I go back to Arlong none of you will get hurt…or worse," the last part was spoken so softly she wasn't sure he heard it; at least not until he pinned her down to the bed, his eyes fierce and dark as he stared down at her.

"Are you crazy?" he asked. Nami looked up at him, not exactly sure if he really wanted an answer to that question. "Nami without you I'd rather be dead," he growled and kissed her hard. "You're mine. Don't you understand that? I don't care if he has to burn down the whole damn city; he's not getting you back."

Nami couldn't fight the tears back anymore. "Zoro, I don't want you to get hurt," she said softly.

"I'm not going to," he pulled back and looked at her. "Promise me you're not going to go to him," when she didn't say anything he growled and kissed her harder. "Promise me."

"I promise," she whispered breathless. He nodded and laid his body down beside hers, pulling her into him. Nami felt like her heart was breaking, she knew she should go back, but the look in his eyes, the complete desperation, was going to keep her from leaving. She just hoped she wasn't going to have any deaths on her conscious when all was dead and done.


	8. Let's Play a Love Game

Chapter 8: Let's Play a Love Game

"Nami!" Zoro called from their room. She sighed and went in there, half of her makeup done and in a robe of his that she was borrowing.

"What is it?" she asked leaning in the doorway.

Zoro was standing in the middle of the room a red dress shirt in his hands and his dress pants undone with his shoelaces hanging on the floor. He looked over at her and looked very confused. "I have no idea what I'm doing here," he said grimacing at the ties she'd laid out on his bed.

Smiling Nami walked over to him. "Well first, you need to put a shirt on," she told him. She took the dark red shirt from his hands and helped him get it on and as he went to tuck it into his pants she stopped him. When he looked at her she just shook her head and said, "I like it better un-tucked." She smiled and grabbed the black tie on the bed while he did up his pants. She wrapped it around his neck and fitted it under his collar before knotting it, but left it loose around his neck. "Tie your shoes before you trip," she murmured grabbing the suit jacket from the coat hanger she'd left hanging in the window. "You don't have to put this on yet, but when you do, leave it open," she kissed his cheek and went back to the bathroom. Despite what everyone had said about it not being safe for her to leave the house, ever, Zoro had convinced them all that she deserved one night out after being cooped up for a month and he'd made reservations at a restaurant, though he wouldn't tell her which one. All he'd told her was that she needed to dress up, so she'd ordered a dress online using Vivi's credit card and she'd had Zoro take Vivi the money to repay her. She'd decided that since Zoro was going to keep the destination a surprise, she was going to keep her outfit a surprise. She'd ordered it while he was out one night and when it showed up at the house she'd taken it and hidden it in Sanji's room because she knew Sanji would never let Zoro in there to sneak around.

Once the bathroom door was closed and locked behind her Nami finished her makeup and pulled her hair up into a bun, leaving a few strands around her face and took the robe off. The dress she'd bought was simple but sexy at the same time. It was a strapless, black, reached to her mid thigh, and hugged her curves like a second skin without looking trashy. To go with it, she'd gotten a pair of black strappy heels, and a diamond necklace that she clipped into place before grabbing her coat. Even though it was probably going to be warm enough that she wasn't going to need it, he wasn't going to let Zoro see the dress until they reached wherever it was he was taking her. She buttoned up the coat and tied it around her waist and walked out of the bathroom.

Zoro was standing behind the couch, talking to Sanji who was in the middle of watching a football game on TV and he looked sexy as hell. He'd left his jacket un-buttoned like she'd asked and the tie hung lose on his neck, his shirt was un-tucked, and because he had one of his hands in his pocket the jacket pulled away from his body making him look like one of those sexy bad boys from the movies. He looked at her and caught her staring. "You okay?" he asked.

Nami blushed. "Yeah, are you ready?" she asked. Zoro nodded and looked at Sanji who surrendered the keys to his car. Smirking Zoro took her hand and led her out of the house to Sanji's red sports car and held open the door for her. Nami smiled and climbed inside, waiting for Zoro to get in before she asked, "Will you please tell me where we're going now?"

"Nope," Zoro pulled out the tie Nami had left lying on his bed and handed it to her.

"What's this for?" she asked eyeing it suspiciously as she took it from him.

"Tie it around your eyes," he said as he started the car.

"Excuse me?" Zoro gave her a look and Nami rolled her eyes, pulling it over her eyes and tying it off. "Happy?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest. Zoro grunted and she heard him pull out of the driveway. She sighed and leaned back in her seat as Zoro turned the radio on, Sanji had some kind of country station on and Nami tapped her foot along to the beat. It wasn't a bad song, even if country wasn't necessarily her forte. She picked up the fairly simple beat and started humming along with it. She heard Zoro chuckle beside her. "Yes?" she asked turning her head in his direction.

"Nothing, darlin'" he said and turned on the blinker. Nami rolled her eyes under the makeshift blindfold and sighed. "So impatient," he whispered, his hand falling on her knee.

"I don't like not knowing where I'm going," she mumbled and tucked some hair behind her ear. "It's unnerving."

Zoro chuckled again but said nothing as he continued to drive. Nami tried to hear what was going on outside the car over the radio, but Zoro must have figured out what she was doing and turned the volume up and turned to a rock station which only made it harder. Nami gave up and just sat there, trying not to think about anything that could possibly spoil the mood, so she thought about Zoro, the only thing that made her happy. The night after she'd given up her virginity to him, everything seemed to be much better between the two of them. While Zoro was still his usual self, reserved, quiet, he never left her side. He was always by her, always touching her in some way and she couldn't get enough of it. After she'd healed up and she wasn't so damn sore, Zoro had taken her to bed again, and she finally realized why women adored sex so much.

Just thinking about everything he'd taught her and everything they'd done together made her blush, and Zoro caught it. "What are you thinking about darlin'?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing, are we there yet?" she asked.

"Almost," he said. Nami sighed and sat back again, waiting for the car to stop so she could take that damn blindfold off. She tried to think of where he was possibly taking her, and too lost in thought she jumped when he reached over and started untying the blindfold. "Sorry," he murmured, chuckling softly against her neck. He pulled the tie away and Nami blinked before looking out the window. They weren't even in Grand Line anymore, he'd drove out to East Blue to one of the most expensive, and most respected restaurants in the city. He smiled and looked at her, "Are you going to get out of the car, or are you going to stay in here all night?" he asked chuckling.

Nami smiled and climbed out of the car, wrapping her arm around his as he escorted her inside. He walked up to the corsair's desk and waited for the man to look up at him. "Name please?" he asked.

"Roronoa Zoro," he said kissing the back of Nami's hand. She smiled and leaned in closer to him.

"Right this way," the man led them through the restaurant to the back where their booth was secluded and cut off from everyone else. "Someone will be right with you," he said before leaving.

XXX

Zoro slid into the boot and wrapped around the table to the back, Nami watched him and started untying her jacket. He looked over at her and smirked as she slowly started undoing the buttons. When she slowly pulled it away from his body his mouth went dry. She looked absolutely stunning in that dress and it made his hands burn to reach out and pull it off of her to get to the luscious skin underneath. Ever since their first night together he couldn't get enough of her, every chance he had he pulled her into the bedroom just so he could strip away her clothes and worship her body. She'd gotten so far under his skin that he had a feeling that losing her meant losing his humanity.

She slid into the booth beside him and, unable to resist, he tilted her head back and kissed her. Her sweet taste exploded in his mouth, running through his senses like a livewire. He groaned softly and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her closer. Her little nails bit into his shoulders as she opened her mouth for him. He ran his tongue inside and slowly fucked her mouth with it, until she was squirming under him. He smirked when he pulled back seeing the flush on her skin. He knew exactly how to tease her body to make her want him, knew what drove her crazy and how to make the lust irresistible. Tonight was going to be a game of cat and mouse to see how long they were able to hold out until they couldn't stand it anymore and started ripping each other's clothes off. He had a feeling she just might win this time.

The waiter showed up and cleared his throat; Zoro didn't take his eyes off of Nami when he answered the man. "Yes?"

"Can I start you off with some wine, sir?" the man asked.

"The most expensive kind you have," Zoro answered smiling at Nami. She leaned up and kissed his lips once before sitting back in her seat. "You look beautiful," he whispered against her skin as his lips sought out the soft flesh of her shoulder.

She smiled and looked at him, her eyes shining in the dim light of the restaurant. "Thank you," she said softly. He smiled and glanced at the waiter as he came back with a bottle of wine and filled two glassed.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked.

"Whatever the chef recommends," Zoro answered as he and Nami reached for their glasses. The man nodded and walked off leaving the two of them alone again. Nami giggled and looked up at him. "What?" he asked.

"I think that waiter was a little upset with you," she said taking a sip of her wine.

Zoro chuckled. "I don't care about him, tonight is about you only," he told her. He smiled when she did and kissed her nose. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, nothing could ruin this night for him. He'd been planning this for a little over a month now, and he wasn't going to let anything spoil it, especially not some waiter who had a problem with him not paying any attention to the man.

After dinner Zoro helped Nami back into the car, but after he was inside he didn't start it quite yet, he just sat there, staring out the window. "Zoro?" she asked, looking at him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing at all," he said smiling. He didn't want the night to be over yet, he wanted to stay out with her just a little later. But where could they go? It was too dangerous to walk around Grand Line right now, and he really didn't know his way around East Blue. Well, he was never going to find anything by just sitting there. Zoro started the car and started driving, hoping he would find something for them to do before they had to go home. He glanced over and could see that Nami wanted to know where he was going but she never said anything. He drove around for fifteen minutes before he stopped the car outside of a dance club. Nami looked over at him questionably. "I don't want to go home yet," he told her, turning off the car.

They climbed out and he paid for them to get inside and they walked into one of the rooms. It wasn't one of the more popular dance clubs where everyone showed up in jeans, tee shirts, or provocative clothes. Everyone was dressed like they were and the music they were playing was classical at best. He'd love to get Nami into one of the hip-hop clubs where they played the body grinding music, but for tonight this would work. He bypassed all of the tables and led her out to the floor. The band was just starting a new song as he pulled her into his arms. Her tiny hands found the back of his neck, playing tenderly with the hairs that teased his skin as he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist as they started to move. She laid her head down on his shoulder, moving in time with the music. He smiled and kissed her head, thinking that this was perfect, he knew that Nami would change him, he knew that before he'd even gotten into this mess. He wasn't the same jack ass he'd been before she'd wound him around her little finger, granted he still acted like one to Sanji, and he was still that tough reserved ass that everyone had come to know and love, but he'd softened just a little bit, though he only let that side of him come out when he was alone with her. She was the only one who deserved to see it.

He turned his head to nuzzle her neck and against her skin he whispered, "I love you, Nami." A small gasp escaped her lips and she pulled back enough to look up at him. It was the first time he'd ever said it to her, but caught up in the moment, he couldn't think of a better time to say it for the first time. He smiled and tucked some stray hair behind her ear, "I think it was inevitable, you've worked your way so deep under my skin and into my heart, I can't possibly imagine living without you anymore," he whispered, the words he spoke were meant for her ears only.

Nami reached up on her toes and kissed him softly, slowly, before pulling back to look up at him with those whisky eyes, "I love you too," she said. Zoro pulled her closer to him, breathing in her scent and committing everything about this one moment to memory, wishing time would just stop.

XXX

When they walked into the house everyone was already in bed, but someone had thought to leave one of the lamps in the living room on for them. Nami figured it was Sanji and silently thanked him as Zoro took her coat from her and hung it up in the small closet before taking her hand and leading her into the bedroom. She knew where they were heading, and she couldn't wait. This past week they hadn't been able to do anything and her body was starved for his. He'd worked himself too deeply inside of her and without him she was going crazy. Zoro closed the door and she jumped at the first chance she got to get her hands on him. She pressed him against the door and pressed her body against his as he slanted his lips over hers. He spun, pinning her to the door as his hands gripped her hips, hoisting her dress up her thighs. When his hands touched her bare ass he pulled back and looked at her. "You're not wearing panties?" he asked.

She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "They would have left a line," he answered.

He looked confused. "But, you're wearing stockings," his hands ran up her thighs.

"They're the kind that stays up at the knee," she smirked when his eyes dilated and he sucked in a breath. His lips attached hers as his hand pushed her dress up past her waist and boosted her up; instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to him. He groaned and rolled his hips into hers, his already hard erection pressed against her center, stoking a fire that was already raging inside of her like lightning. His lips left a hot trail down her neck as he kissed his way to the top of her dress and slowly pulled it down, freeing her breasts to the cool air. A soft moan escaped her lips as he closed his mouth over one of her nipples. She flushed, she was aching to get him inside of her and embarrassingly wet already. He teased her distended peek with tongue and teeth while his other hand rolled the other one, worrying it between his fingers until she was squirming and rocking her hips against him. She managed to work her legs back down to the floor and gave him a smirk before sliding her dress down her legs and kicking it to the side. He gave her a quizzical look as she dropped to her knees in front of him. His breath left him in a rush as she unsnapped his pants and pulled them down his legs, revealing his hard erection.

Nami wrapped her fingers around it and couldn't help but be amazed at it. It was hard but soft, rugged but so smooth. She had a feeling that the amazement of sex never got old; no matter how often one had it. She pumped him slowly in her hand, watching him with careful eyes, learning what felt good and what drove him crazy. His hands braced against the wall as he stared down at her, his dark eyes searing her clear down to her bones. She flashed him a soft smile before she pressed her lips to the rounded blunt tip, licking it slowly. Zoro cursed above her and threaded a hand in her hair, ripping the ponytail holder from it as her mouth encased him in her wet cavern. He moaned when she started to bob her head back and forth, taking as much of him as she could before retreating and repeating the process. "Damn Nami…your mouth…fuck," he whispered things to her, guided her with his hand until she found a rhythm that worked for both of them and fought back the urge to thrust into her mouth. He growled and pulled her head back, pulling her up. "Are you trying to make me melt?" he growled.

Nami smirked and ran her nails lightly down his chest. "Possibly," she said softly.

He growled and walked her over to the bed but didn't lay her down on it. He took her wrists in his hands and turned her around so her back was pressed against his chest and bent her forward at the waist. "Brace your hands on the bed," he ordered, ripping his shirt and jacket from his body. Nami did as she was told and felt his cock press against her ass, grinding against the skin. She bit her lip and looked at him over her shoulder, her body shaking. He bent over her, pressing his chest into her back, sliding his hot flesh over the wet folds of her pussy, driving her desire and hunger that much higher. She moaned and backed her ass against him, grinding into that length, trying to satisfy some of the burning inside her. He chuckled, "Do you need something, Nami?" he asked.

She growled and thrust back against him. "Yeah, you inside me would be good," she ground out.

He chuckled and pushed inside her, sliding in deep, deep, until he was in her to the hilt. Nami moaned and rolled her hips against his as he started thrusting into her. She felt stretched and hot as he filled her up, bracing his hands on her hips to leverage her to drive deeper. She moaned and dug her nails into the sheets, feeling her orgasm barrel down on her with an intensity that threatened to split her apart.

Zoro growled and drove deeper into Nami's tight heat, he'd never get used to her tightness, or how wet he could make her just by kissing her. His fingers dug into her skin with enough force to bruise as he felt her walls contract and tighten around him, pulling him in deeper. She was close, and he was too, everything from that night leading up to this one moment had him ready to come as soon as he'd entered her. He growled as picked up the pace, pummeling against her hips. Her breath came in short irregular gasps as the upper half of her body fell to the bed. He held her hips, keeping her open for him. "Damn it, come for me Nami," he growled as his dick started pulsing, his orgasm attacking him from the back, working up his spine and nailing him in the back of the head, until he was blind with the pleasure. Nami screamed under him, sobbing his name as she contracted around him, her orgasm wringing every last once of pleasure from him. He slowly pulled out of her and picked her up, laying her on the bed beside him, pulling her into him.

He held her close to him as they came down, their breathing slowly coming back to them as their heartbeats matched in tandem. He kissed her head and drew the sheets up over them. "I love you," he whispered into her hair. She smiled and whispered it back as sleep claimed her body.

XXX

"Are you boys ready?" Arlong asked, staring out the window of his office. He'd been quiet long enough now, he was finally ready to make his move, and when he did, everyone involved could be sure that it would be an earth shattering move.

"Yeah, we're ready, just give the order," Hatchi said from the corner of the room.

Arlong nodded and looked up at the sky. There was a full moon tonight, and there was a small white ring around it. He smirked thinking how fitting that was, a ring around the moon meant the trouble wasn't far behind and didn't he know it. He was about to cause so much trouble that no one would ever thing to cross him again. He chuckled darkly and turned around to look at all of his underlings. They were watching him, waiting for his orders, all of them loyal to the end, and he knew that any one of them would take a bullet for him. If only he could say the same. He smirked and nodded his head. "I want you to go out tomorrow night, go straight to their territory and cause as much trouble as possible, as soon as they show up, give them this message." He tossed an envelope to Cabaji and smirked. "Deliver it to Zoro personally, I don't care if you boys want to have a little fun with them while you're there, but please, don't kill them yet." The nodded and left.

Arlong smirked as he sat down at his computer, he'd given Cabaji further instructions before everyone else showed up. Soon, this would all be over, Nami would be back where she belonged, and Zoro would be dead, along with all of the other Straw Hats.

XXX

Zoro's skin was itching, something didn't feel right. Luffy had decided that he wanted to go out earlier tonight, the sun wasn't even down yet and that wasn't like him. He said he didn't know why, he just had a feeling that something fun was going to happen tonight so they'd gone out. Nami was at home, safe with the doors locked and since she knew how to use a gun he wasn't too worried, but he wouldn't be completely satisfied until he was back with her. He sighed and looked around, he really didn't see anything worthy of calling 'fun' but his skin was itching so bad he knew something was about to go down.

Speak of the devil. Cabaji and the rest of Arlong's gang came out from an alley and blocked the street. "Zoro, you're looking good," Cabaji smirked.

Zoro smirked and crosses his arms across his chest. "Unlike you, what are you dogs doing so far from home without your master?" he asked noticing Arlong wasn't there.

"We've got a message to deliver," Cabaji tossed an envelope at Zoro's feet. He bent down and picked it up, never taking his eyes off of the men in front of them. He put it in his back pocket, planning on looking in it later. "Now, I'm not in the mood for a fight tonight," Cabaji turned and the rest of the men followed him. "See you later Zoro," he laughed.

Zoro waited until they were long gone before he pulled the envelope out of his pocket and tore it open.

_Zoro, no doubt you've been enjoying your time corrupting Nami, but I wonder, how much is she actually telling you? I wonder if she told you about the woman she killed, maybe you should ask your precious Nami about that. I wonder Zoro; can you really love her if you knew the truth? Maybe you should ask her what she's really hiding from you. Either way, we'll be seeing each other very soon. You can count on that. _

Zoro glared and fisted the note in his fist. Arlong was lying, he had to be, there was no way Nami would ever kill anyone, she didn't even know how to use a gun when he'd found her. They'd had to teach her that. He took a deep breath and counted to ten. Arlong was just trying to get him worked up so he would make a mistake. He wasn't going to fall for it.

"What did it say?"

Zoro glanced at Sanji. "Nothing important, I'll deal with it," he mumbled turning to head back home. He knew Luffy and the others were going to stay out longer and that suited him just fine, but he needed to get home to Nami and figure out what the hell was going on. He walked into the house; all of the lights were off, expect for the small lamp that sat on the table beside the couch. He figured Nami had gone to bed. He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up in the closet before moving into the bedroom. The lights were off, the room softly illuminated from the moon shinning in through the window, casting a slivery glow over everything. He walked over to the bed and looked down at Nami. She was sleeping with her back to him and he was pleased to see that she wasn't wearing anything under the sheets. He smirked slowly and stripped his clothes away before climbing into the bed with her, being careful not to wake her. Zoro wrapped his arm around her and dropped a soft kiss on her shoulder; running his fingers over her thigh slowly.

She stirred softly and turned over to look at him. "I didn't expect you back do soon," she murmured.

"Something came up," he kissed her before pulling the blankets up over them. "I need to talk to you," Nami turned in his arms to face him as he reached over the side of the bed and pulled the letter from Arlong out of his jeans. He handed it to her and let her read it and re-read it a few times. When she looked up at him he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not saying that I believe him, especially since we had to teach you how to use a gun, but I wanted to know what you thought about it," he explained.

"I can't," she said looking at the paper. "I don't know what he's talking about." She shook her head and looked up at him, fear lining the edges of her eyes.

He took the paper and crumpled it up, throwing it away. "That's all I needed to know," he said pulling her into his arms. He kissed her head, "Don't worry about it too much," he told her. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he whispered into her hair as she held onto him. He pulled her close and held her until he was sure she was asleep before he finally let the sleep claim his own body.


	9. Let Me be Your Hero

Chapter 9: Let Me be Your Hero

"Zoro," Nami ran into the room, fear flooding her system, pumping adrenalin through her veins like a wild fire. Everything was moving slow. Everything seemed unreal. She didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think it could be possible, but she knew that evil laugh, and heard the loud ricochet of a gun being fired, heard the body fall to the ground. Arlong was standing in the door way, laughing. Zoro was on the ground, bleeding. Everything seemed unreal. The walls in the living room started closing in around her. She couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe. She fell to her knees beside Zoro. Blood was spilling from his chest, warm and wet; his dark eyes looked up at her, already becoming clouded over. The tears spilled over and hit his face, his chest, mixing with the blood. "Zoro," a hand covered her mouth as he coughed and blood came from his mouth.

"Love…you," he whispered, wincing as even talking caused him pain.

She smoothed a hand through his hair. "Shh, don't talk," she told him. "Luffy will be here, he'll get you help," she whispered. She wanted to believe that, she really did. She just didn't think she could. A big arm came around her waist and she was hauled off the ground and onto a hard shoulder. "No!" she screamed, thrashing around, hitting and kicking. "Put me down! Zoro! Zoro!" she felt helpless as she was carried out of the house, felt weak when her hands were cuffed behind her back. Felt completely useless as she was thrown into the back of a car and the door closed, shutting off her view of Zoro. Felt dead inside when the car sped away. She screamed, she cried, she swore. This was all her fault, everything was her fault. None of this would have happened if it weren't for her.

"Nami," he whispered her voice and she glared, looking out the window. She hated him. He said her name again and she moved her body, turning away from him. Again and she shut her eyes. He grabbed her hair and fisted his hand in it, craning her neck around until she was staring into his cold lifeless eyes. "Nami, listen to me," he said.

"No, let me go!" she shouted.

He backhanded her. His hand smoothed over the stinging skin and his expression softened. "Nami, don't you see, I did this for us," he said. She closed her eyes, wished she could close her ears. She didn't want to hear this, didn't want to believe this was really happening. "You can't see it now but one day you will, there was no future for you there. I can give you a better life."

Nami took a deep breath. Tried to get the image of Zoro dying there on the floor out of her mind. She didn't want to see it. Didn't want to believe it. Everything was over. He was dead, there's no way Luffy would be able to save him in time; it had been a direct hit to his chest. If the bullet didn't hit his heart, it would have tore through a lung, and by now they'd be filled with blood. He'd drown in it. Everything was over, she belonged to Arlong, and this whole time he'd been toying with them, making them think they actually had a chance. Nami should have known better. Everything was over…he belonged to him.

Defeated, she nodded her head. "That's my girl," he kissed her forehead and sat back in the seat, pulling the keys to the handcuffs out of his pocket before letting her go. "When we get to our new home, you'll see, everything will be better," he told her. Nami nodded, she heard what he said, but nothing registered. She was numb, so damned cold and numb that she had a feeling nothing would be able to break through her shell now. Nothing except maybe her dreams…Zoro was still alive in her dreams. The car pulled up to the airport and Arlong helped her out of the car as Buggy moved to the trunk and started pulling bags out of it and loading it onto a baggage cart. Arlong wrapped his arm around her waist and she followed him deafly, unseeing. He led her through the crowd of people, through security all the way back to his private jet and followed her onto it. She sat down in the seat and he slid the seatbelt around her as everyone else started boarding the plane. Cabaji sat beside her, looked at her, tried to talk to her, but she didn't hear him. Didn't even see him. The jet took off, leaving the ground. Once they were secure in the air, Arlong leaned over from his seat. "You look tired, why don't you go in the back and get some sleep," he told her.

Nami nodded and undid her seatbelt and moved to the back where Arlong had a small bedroom, she kicked off her shoes and fell down onto the bed. She curled in around herself and was assaulted with Zoro's scent. She looked down at her body, realizing she was wearing one of his shirts. The tears started to spill from her eyes and she buried her head into the fabric of his dark blue tank. She cried herself to sleep.

XXX

He grunted and forced his body to respond to his commands, slowly sitting up and using the back of the couch to pull himself up on his legs. The bullet had gone clean through, tearing through skin, muscle, and god only knew what else. But that didn't matter. They'd taken Nami. After he'd promised her he wouldn't let anything happen to her, he'd failed her. What good was he? Zoro growled and grabbed his jacket from the closet and started walking out the door when Sanji pulled up in his car and everyone climbed out. "Zoro! What happened?" Chopper ran over and put his hands on his chest, stopping him from moving.

"Get out of my way," he growled trying to push past the kid, but is body was weak. "Nami, they took her!" he shouted.

"What?" Sanji glared and looked down the road. "How did they find us?" he asked to no one in general.

Zoro growled and fell back against the door frame. "Zoro, let me look at you, you're too weak right now to do anything that could help her. We'll look you over then once you're strong again we'll help you." Chopper said pulling him into the house. Zoro allowed himself to be pulled into the kitchen and laid down on a table Usopp had covered with a plastic tarp.

Chopper started cutting his clothes away but Zoro didn't feel anything, didn't hear anything. Hell all he could do was think about what a complete waste he was. He couldn't protect Nami, after he'd promised her, he'd failed her. Lied to her. What good was he? He was useless. Weak. Totally unreliable.

He was going to get her back, even if it cost him his life, he would get her back. There was no way Arlong was going to win this one. He might have taken Nami away from him. Might have shot him, but nothing was going to keep him away from Nami. He didn't care what it took; he was going to get her back.

Chopper finished and stood back. "You can't do anything crazy for a while, and definitely no Santouryuu stuff," he said with a sigh. "He's not going to hurt her Zoro, not if he was planning on marrying her. Don't worry."

Yeah that was easier said than done. Zoro sat up and looked at Luffy. For being seventeen, and acting like a complete dumbass all of the time, Luffy was wise when it came down to it. He knew things that surprised even Zoro, and his way of thinking was astonishing. "Well, how you feel?" he asked.

Zoro grunted. "Fine, you know this isn't going to slow me down."

Luffy nodded. "Everyone get ready, we're going to go get Nami," he smiled at Zoro. "She's nakama after all." Everyone smirked and nodded.

An hour later found them outside Arlong's house, but what they found was disturbing. The front door was kicked in, and there were no lights on it the house, even some of the windows were broken. "What the hell happened here?" Chopper asked as they walked up the driveway to the front door. They walked inside and horror filled Zoro like a livewire. The house was trashed, mostly everything was gone. He growled and ran through the house, looking for some sign of a fight, blood, anything that would tell him if Nami was okay. But he didn't find anything.

"Guys! Come here!" Usopp called. They all ran in the direction of his voice and found themselves in Arlong's office. Usopp was at the computer, his fingers moving wickedly fast over the keys. "I should be able to find out where they went if I check his history," he mumbled staring at the screen. Zoro watched him; he knew how good Usopp was with computers and knew that if there was any trace of where Arlong took Nami, he would find it. "Got it!" he pulled up a screen and everyone looked over his shoulder at it. There was a picture of a house out in Cocoyashi City which was located in North Blue. Damn it all to hell. Zoro swore and stared pacing the room.

What the hell were they going to do now? North Blue was a day away by car, if they didn't stop for anything and drove straight through the night. Why would Arlong go all the way to North Blue? It didn't make any sense. He growled and slammed his fist into the wall, the plaster shaking under his hand. "Zoro, calm down," Sanji murmured lighting up a cigarette. He glared over at the chain smoking blonde and growled. "We'll just load up the car and drive there tonight; we'll get a hotel once we get there and then plan an attack." He said that like it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Zoro knew better. North Blue was probably one the most dangerous places they could go and Arlong had taken Nami there. What the hell had he been thinking?

XXX

"Nami, can you come in here for a minute?" Nami sighed and walked into the living room, she'd been in the kitchen trying to find something to eat. Arlong moved to North Blue and she wasn't allowed to leave the house unless he was with her, and he refused to let her order anything and have it delivered to the house. Things were so much worse than they used to be. She always had a babysitter, the only time she was left alone was when she was taking a shower or sleeping. But even then she felt like she was always being watched. She didn't like it. She knew things were only going to get worse. She hated him. He looked up at her when she entered the room and smiled. "You know I love you right?" he asked as she sat on the couch beside him. She nodded her head. Yeah she knew, but she despised him, hated him, and wanted him to drop dead. "Good, I know you're upset with me, but it will get better in time," he murmured, leaning in closer to her. A shiver went up her spine as his lips touched her shoulder. "You'll learn to love me, learn to want me, need me, and crave me." He whispered, trailing his lips up her neck to her ear. She bit her lip, she didn't like where this was going, not one bit.

His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her body flush against his as he stared down at her. His fingers traced her lips as he smiled. "So soft," he murmured. Nami closed her eyes, she hated him. He leaned down and kissed her, she tried to push him off, tried to get away from him, but he held her with an iron grip she had no hope of breaking. He pushed her back on the couch till she was lying down; a knee wedges itself between her legs as he pinned her down. Tears slipped out of her eyes as she closed her eyes, going somewhere else in her head. Anywhere but there. Straight to Zoro's arms, to his bed, to his heart.

Later that night Nami was in her bathroom, sitting in the bathtub, filled with hot water, so hot it almost scalded her skin. She'd scrubbed her body raw in the shower and could still feel him on her, could still feel his body on top of hers. She hated him. She wanted to run away but she'd tried that once, he'd caught her before she even made it out of the driveway, thanks to the new alarm system he installed. She only had two days left…two days then she would be tied to him for the rest of her life. Nami buried her head in her knees and cried. She didn't want to believe it was true, didn't want to listen to anything he said, wanted to believe this was just a bad dream and she was going to wake up safe and warm in Zoro's arms. But he was dead, and so was she in a way. She had no reason for living, and Arlong, anticipating her thoughts, had removed everything sharp from the house and locked them away where she couldn't get to them. He was a selfish bastard, and soon…she would be his wife.

Nami stared at the water surrounding her; Zoro's face appeared in the water, smiling up at her. She bit her lip as the tears dripped into the water, blurring his perfect image. She felt so alone, so cold, so dead. Unable to stare into the water and see his face without being able to touch him she climbed out of the tub and let the water drain. She dried off quickly and pulled on a pair of shorts and Zoro's tank top. She'd begged and pleaded with Arlong to let her keep it, he had, but she knew he wasn't happy about it. She climbed into her bed, wrapped herself in his shirt and closed her eyes, breathing him in and falling into a deep unconsciousness where there was no pain, no fear of being a prisoner for the rest of her life. There was nothing but her and Zoro, he held her, and kissed her, told her he loved her as he made love to her. It was the only thing worth living for. Her dreams were the only thing keeping her alive.

XXX

Zoro glared at the wall, staring into space, and thinking of only two things. Nami and killing Arlong. They'd been sitting in this damn hotel room, for three days, doing nothing. Sanji and Luffy were trying to come up with a plan, something that didn't sound completely stupid, but Zoro would rather just break into the house and take her back. Like they had the first time. He hated just sitting here, not knowing if she was okay, not knowing how to help her or anything. He hated it. A growl tore from his chest and he collapsed back against the mattress. He was going crazy sitting here.

The door opened and closed as everyone came inside. Sanji looked at him and shook his head. "Calm down okay, we're ready, we've thought of something to get her back, so you can stop brooding now."

Zoro looked over at him and narrowed his eyes. Calm down. Calm down? Hell no he wouldn't fucking calm down. Nami was out there, alone, with Arlong, and they had no idea where to start looking. The house Usopp had found on Arlong's computer had turned out to be a museum not a house at all. For all they knew Nami wasn't even in North Blue and what were they doing? Sitting around a fucking hotel room. "Forgive me for being pissed off," he growled, nearly spitting venom.

"We're not blaming you for being upset, in face we completely understand that, but we've got a plan finally," Usopp said. He moved to lean against the wall and smirked across the room at Zoro.

He looked at him skeptically. When they'd gone out earlier they said it was because they were going out drinking. So he doubted that any plan they had, because they were drunk, was a good one. "You mean the worm at the bottom of a bottle told you where to find Nami? Let me guess, Candy fucking Mountain?"

"Ha-ha, very funny," Sanji said dryly. "Drop the sarcasm and just listen." Zoro sighed but nodded his head, leaning back against the headboard. "We were planning on going drinking, but when we walked into the bar one of the guys working there told us they were closed because they had to set up for a wedding reception that's being held there tomorrow," Sanji explained. Then he asked, "Guess who's wedding it is?"

Zoro shot forward on the bed. "You're kidding."

Sanji shook his head. "They were even kind enough to tell us which church it's being held at."

Zoro couldn't believe it. Just when he thought all hope was gone, that he was never going to see her again, a miracle dropped into his lap. Maybe there was a god somewhere, he didn't know and he wasn't about to contemplate the mechanics of it. All he cared about was that he was getting Nami back.

XXX

Nami looked at herself in the wall length mirror, tears stinging her eyes, not because she was happy, not because she looked beautiful, not because this was the happiest day of her life, but because as she started walking down the aisle, she was walking towards the end of her existence. She was supposed to marry Arlong in all of five minutes, and then she would be his, totally and completely. This isn't what she wanted, but she couldn't have what she wanted. Arlong had made sure of that when he'd killed Zoro.

There was a knock on the door and Nami watched through the mirror as Crocodile walked in. He smiled at her as he closed the door. "You look beautiful."

Nami forced a smile. "Thank you," she whispered. He held out his arm and she slowly walked over to him, wrapping her arm around as he escorted her from the room and down the hall to the doors leading into the church. The Wedding March started and Crocodile pulled open the double doors, everyone was seating in the first two rows at the front of the church, they stood and looked back at her. But Nami didn't see a husband waiting at the end; she saw a gallows with a nuance waiting for her. Crocodile tugged gently on her arm and led her down the aisle; she forced a smile even though on the inside she was dying. When they reached the end, Crocodile handed her over to Arlong, and they priest started.

"Marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman, and today we're here to celebrate the joining of Arlong and Nami. If there is anyone here who things that these two should not be joined together in holy matrimony, please let them speak now, or forever hold their peace."

Nami closed her eyes, silently saying her goodbyes; she knew that no one here would object. This was the end of everything.

"Ladies and gentleman, we interrupt this wedding ceremony to say; I fucking object!"

Everyone looked to the back of the church and Nami nearly passed out. There was no way, no possible way. He was dead. She'd seen all of the blood. Seen the bullet wound. Yet, Zoro was standing at the back of the church with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face she'd ever seen. Arlong looked just as shocked as she was. "What the hell…I killed you!"

Zoro shook his head, "I hate to tell you, but you missed," he smirked and slowly made his way up the aisle, never taking his eyes off of Nami. She felt like she was going to be sick. Like she was going to pass out. Like she was going to cry.

"Crocodile! Get her out of here!" Arlong hissed.

Crocodile grabbed Nami and threw her over his shoulder. "No! Put me down!" she screamed. She clawed at his skin. She hit. She hit. She kicked. She thrashed. Anything to get out of his grip, but unfortunately he was too strong for her. After she'd annoyed him enough he pulled her over his shoulder and punched her hard enough that her vision swam before she passed out.

XXX

Zoro glared and watched Crocodile run off with Nami. "I'll go," Sanji said, running off after them. Zoro knew Sanji would be able to hold his own against him at least long enough for Zoro to take care of Arlong and catch up with them. He looked at the man responsible for nearly killing him, stealing Nami, and almost ruining their lives. Zoro wouldn't be satisfied until Arlong stopped breathing.

"I killed you much too quickly the last time, I'm not going to make that mistake again." Arlong pulled his revolver from the inside of his jacket and pointed it at Zoro.

He smirked and drew his three kantana, putting one of them in his mouth and glaring at Arlong. "I hate to break it to you, but the only one who's going to stop breathing today, is you and your little gang.

Arlong laughed and looked Zoro over. "How do you plan on winning Roronoa? You brought kantana to a gun fight."

Zoro smirked, "Because I'm that confident that my blades are faster than your bullets." He carefully measured the distance from where he was standing to the front of the church where Arlong was, fifty feet, give or take a few, and if he timed his movements just right, and watched Arlong closely enough, he'd be able to calculate the exact moment when Arlong would pull the trigger and if he moved fast enough he'd be able to dodge it. His mind made up Zoro took off at a dead run for Arlong. Everything seemed to move n slow motion, at that moment. The sounds of his feet against the carpet seemed deafening loud, his kantana seemed much heavier, the distance seemed much farther. He blocked out everything but Arlong's finger on the trigger, he saw the muscle working, the slight movement of as he squeezed, and at the last possible second, when the bullet left the chamber, Zoro moved, dodging the bullet and piercing Arlong's chest with all three of his blades.

He gasped for air as blood pooled in his lungs and stained the white of his shirt. Before he could fall to the floor Zoro leaned in and whispered, "I win," he let Arlong's body fall and looked around the room. Everyone had stopped their fighting and was looking up at Zoro.

"What do we do now?" Hatchi asked, being the first one to speak.

"Technically Nami's in charge now," Buggy leaned against one of the pews and crossed his arms. "We don't do anything until she gives the order."

"So…we wait?" Usopp looked from Zoro to Luffy. "Is that a good idea?"

Luffy sat down and folded his legs. "They can't do anything until Nami gives the orders, so we wait."

Zoro sheathes his kantana. "I'm going to go find them," he turned to start in the direction Sanji had followed Crocodile in, but Cabaji blocked his path. "I'll go with you; Crocodile won't believe you if you tell him Arlong is dead."

Zoro shrugged. He didn't care one way or the other, if crocodile didn't believe him then Zoro would just kill him too. They found Sanji and Crocodile fighting in a courtyard at the back of the church; Nami was lying on a stone bench, unconscious. "Sanji, that's enough." Zoro called.

"You too Crocodile," Cabaji added. "Zoro killed Arlong, Nami's word is law now, we don't do anything until she gives the order."

They both stopped and looked over at Nami. Zoro walked over to her, picked her up in his arms and pulled her close against him. She was a lot lighter than her remembered, he looked closer and growled. She'd lost weight in a week, enough that she looked sick. If Arlong wasn't dead already Zoro would have run him through. He might just to spite him. Still, he had Nami back, that's all that mattered. The four of them made their way back, glaring at each other the whole way. Zoro was somewhat surprised to see that no one was fighting when they got back. He saw down in a pew and pulled Nami closer to him, gently smoothing hair away from her face. He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "Nami, time to wake up darlin'," he whispered.

She made a sound between a groan and a sigh and curled her body closer to his. "Don't wanna," she mumbled.

Zoro chuckled; she'd obviously forgotten where she was and what was going on. "Baby, I can't very well kiss you if you're asleep."

"Sure you can," she muttered.

"Nami, open your eyes." The light teasing in his voice was gone now. She sighed and looked up at him and realization lined her eyes as she remembered what was going on. "Hey there," he smiled down at her.

"But…you were dead. I saw you." He hand slowly cupped his face, like she was afraid that if she touched him he would disappear. He smiled and covered her hand with his and kissed her palm.

"I'm right here," he whispered, "and I'm not going anywhere for a long time."

"Where's Arlong?" she asked. Zoro's eyes traveled up to the front of the church where Arlong's body was still lying. Nami followed his gaze and gasped when she saw him. "Is he…?"

"Yeah and there's one more problem," he muttered dryly. "The others need to talk to you." He glared as the rest of Arlong's gang walked forward. Nami shifted in his lap and looked at them.

"Nami, you're in charge now," Cabaji said crossing his arms, "that was Arlong's order if he ever died."

She looked at them, then back at Zoro. He shrugged. He wouldn't be able to make this decision for her, she was going to have to choose; but with him, or take over where Arlong left off. He wouldn't blame her if she chose to leave, she deserved a better life than he could ever hope to give her and if she was running her own gang (especially one as financially well off as Arlong's) then she would be able to have that life. It would probably kill him to watch her walk away but he would suffer in silence. He wasn't going to make things harder on her. She finally sighed and looked at Cabaji. Zoro braced himself for her answer. "Here are my orders," she said. "Go out, chose a leader amongst yourselves, disband the gang, I don't care, but if you ever come near the Straw Hat Gang or threaten my family in any way, we won't hesitate to kill you."

Zoro couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nami was staying? He looked up at her, disbelieve thick in his dark eyes. "You're staying with us?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Of course, I thought I lost you once, I'm not going to walk away and lose you again." She dipped her head and kissed him. Zoro banded his arms around her and pulled her against him, crushing their bodies together. He felt like a complete idiot.


	10. The Ending Credits

Chapter 10: The Ending Credits

"Damn it Nami," Zoro cursed as he looked through his closet. She'd gone shopping and told him that she was going to get him a few things. A few things his ass. The whole closet was filled with high-end expensive clothes and shoes, still all to his taste. He pulled a shirt out and looked at the price tag; 300 belli. He felt like he was going to have a heart attack. They'd all moved into Nami's old house back in Grand Line together and Nami had taken over the finances. Zoro quickly learned that Nami loved money, and they were rolling in it.

He sighed and closed the closet door, heading for the bedroom door when the very woman he was going to yell at walked through it. "Speak of the devil," he muttered.

Nami looked at him as she headed for the bathroom. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Yeah, there is," he said following her into the bathroom. "I thought you were only buying me a few things, not a whole wardrobe." He leaned against the wall and looked at her. Nami was wearing a black dress, cut down to her knees, black stockings and black heels. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and she had some kind of decorated hair sticks holding it all up.

"Well I can take them back if you want," she said causally.

"Good," He couldn't believe how easily he was getting off. Normally she would ask for something in return.

"But Zoro," she said in that sing song innocent voice he almost hated at times, "if I take your clothes back, does that mean you want me to take this back too?" she unzipped the dress at the back of her neck and let it fall down her body. Zoro's eyes popped when the black material pooled around her feet revealing the bright red corset she was wearing underneath. His mouth watered to taste her. His hands itched to touch her. His dick pounded rock hard against his jeans to take her.

He crossed the bathroom in two quick strides and closed his arms around her, holding onto the sink at her back. "You're evil," he muttered, slanting his lips over hers. Nami moaned in response and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer to his. Zoro couldn't get enough of the woman in his arms, she'd completely taken control of him, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Her nails clawed at his back, pulling his shirt over his head so she could run those incredibly smooth hands over his skin. His hands sought out her hips so he could grip them as he ground against her. She was hot and already soaking wet, he could feel it through his jeans that seemed to be too damn tight.

He cupped her ass in his hands and lifted her, instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist and she carried her back to the bedroom, dropping her onto the bed, covering her body with his. She arched her hips up and ground against him. Driving him higher and higher. Zoro growled and turned her to the side, pulling her hips to the side of the bed. He sank to his knees in front of her and spread her legs wide. He cupped her ass in his hands and blew a hot puff of air against her dewy folds before putting his mouth on her.

Nami gasped and arched off the bed when she felt his tongue pushed between he folds of her sex. Slowly coasting upwards until he could circle it around her clit. She fisted her hands in the sheets. A broken scream fell from her lips as she came in one harsh spasm that shook her whole body. Zoro lapped at her like a cat, licking her as she rode out of the orgasm, muttering against her. "That's right baby, ride my mouth just like that…damn you're sweet…fuck your taste Nami."

Her breath coming in irregular gasps looked down at Zoro. He smirked up at her as he pushed two of his fingers deep inside her. She gasped and arched her hips up to meet his thrusts. Zoro chuckled and pulled her down off the bed so she was straddling his lap. "Watch," he murmured. Nami watched him as he fucked her with his fingers. She squirmed with embarrassment but she couldn't look away. It was too damn erotic. He chuckled and looked up at her. "You look nervous."

Nami shrugged and leaned forward, trying to take him deeper. "It's sex, nothing to be nervous about." She managed before a moan tore from her lips.

"Oh? Not nervous at all?" he asked as her eyes drifted closed.

"Not one bit," she murmured. Zoro smirked and turned her around so she was facing the bed and pulled his fingers from her body. He looked around the room quickly and smirked when he saw his dark bandana on the bedside table. Reaching over he grabbed it and slowly brought Nami's wrists to the small of her back and tied them together. She glanced back at him and bit her lip. "Z-Zoro, what are you doing?"

"Just sex? C'mon baby let's have a little fun," he smoothes his hands over her ass before he unzipped his pants and kicked them, along with his boxers off. He kicked her legs apart and ran the head of his dick over her crease. She was wet, she was hot, and he knew that as soon as he pushed his way inside she would be so damn tight. Nami shivered under his tough and looked over her shoulder at him. With a single fluid push he entered her to the hilt, and even though she was the one absorbing him, he was the one who moaned. She was so damn tight and hot and wet, he thought he might melt inside of her.

Zoro could feel his control slipping. He growled and fisted a hand in the sheets, wiling himself to get some measure of sanity back before he completely lost it. He didn't want to hurt Nami and if he lost control with as strong and big as he was, that's exactly what would happen. So he damn near when insane when she pushed back against him, grinding that sweet little ass of hers into his hips. Willing him to move. "Damn it Nami…don't do that," he growled.

She did it again. "Why not?"

"Because I'm about to lose control here," he growled. When she did it again he branded an arm around her waist pulling her tight against him and taking her to the floor. "Do you want me to hurt you?"

With the way he was holding her, Nami might not be able to push back or wiggle that sexy ass of hers but she sure as hell could tease him in other ways. Painfully erotic ways. She tightened the walls of her already impossibly tight pussy around his dick and Zoro damn near went cross eyed. "You won't hurt me," she told him and clenched around him again.

He growled and braced his hands on her hips. "You better be right," he grunted. Then he thrust into her, hard and fast and deep. Nami moaned under him, clenching her fists behind her back and keening out his name. Zoro held nothing back anymore, pounding against that sexy heart shaped ass that was raised for him. He licked his thumb and pressed it against the tight pucker of her ass. Nami went stiff under him but Zoro kept pushing slowly. "You wanted to see how far you could push me princess, so now I'm going to push you, and push…push." Zoro pushed until he couldn't anymore and groaned. She'd gotten tighter around his dick, and he wasn't sure if he would last much longer. He started thrusting into her again, slowly this time.

Nami chewed her bottom lip. She took shallow breaths through she desperately needed air. She wanted to rock back against Zoro, she wanted fast and hard, but the newer invasion kept her from moving. It didn't hurt as much as it was uncomfortable. It was something she'd read about but nothing she'd ever done and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

Zoro's dick thrust in and his thumb stroked out. Nami tried to get used to it, but she felt so damn tight and full. He snaked an arm around her waist and rubbed his finger over her clit. She gasped. The second time she moaned. The third had her coming. The fourth had her riding him. Zoro growled behind her and braced both palms on her hips, his fingers digging into her skin. "I'm done waiting," he muttered. He slammed into her, growling as he fucked her hard and deep. Nami's nails dug into her palms as she sobbed out his name, moving her hips back against his. She felt him twitch inside of her, felt the erratic rhythm of his hips, the way he tightened his hold on her hips. Heard the low monad that tore from him and she went crashing over the edge with him.

Still catching their breath Zoro untied her wrists and pulled her onto the bed with him, pulling the sheets up over them. Nami groggily reached around and pulled the zipper down on her corset and tossed it off the bed, sending the heels she'd been wearing with it. After she managed to work her stockings down with her feet she curled her body into Zoro's and sighed in contentment. He dipped his head and kissed her. "You don't have to take the clothes back," he whispered against her lips.

Nami smiled and kissed him then said, "I had a feeling you would say that."

He grunted and pulled her closer. "You're lucky I love you."

She giggled. "I love you too baby." She cuddled in closer to him as sleep took over.

XXX

"Zoro?" Nami called out as she walked into the house.

"Living room," she walked in there and looked at him. She's been at a doctor's appointment because she hadn't felt well, and Chopper didn't know what was wrong with her. What she'd found out only made her feel more sick. Zoro looked up from the TV and looked at her. "What did the doctor say?" Nami bit her lip as everyone looked up at her. A blush covered her cheeks. Zoro got up and led her into the kitchen. "What's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant."

This is the last chapter. I will not be writing more and I will not be writing a sequel. I know it's an evil way to end the story but...well I like it.

More...


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